Changed
by Queen Avreina
Summary: Vader realises that Leia is his daughter in ANH and manages to turn her from the Alliance. Pretty much the OT if Leia is an undercover Imperial and Lady of the Sith...
1. Author's Notes

**Hey. This page is going to be strictly dedicated to author's notes. Before I start the story, I want to clarify a few things. I probably won't be responding to individual questions, so don't feel the need to review... even though the comments are appreciated. So, on with the notices:**

**What happened at the end of ROTS & later on: **Obi-Wan succeeded in hacking Anakin into pieces; Anakin was forced to wear the suit. Yes, Padmé dies. Luke goes to Tatooine, and Leia goes with Bail and Breha Organa. Lord Vader remembered the cloning abilities on Kamino, and so he repaired all of his injuries, with the exception of his right arm. He still wears the suit to hide his recovery from his master.

**What happens in ANH:** Vader doesn't know about either of his children. Obi-Wan is still alive, watching over Luke. Leia is about to be captured. Unlike other stories, though, Vader and Leia have never met. I follow the saga novelisations, so don't expect anything from other authors, ff.n or published ones, in my story. Bail Organa is off planet when Leia is taken. I will alternate between Vader and Leia, both in third person point of view. The base is on Yavin IV. Mon Mothma is not evil.

**Side Notes: **Don't read this if you're looking for some Luke action. He may be involved, but he will not be the main focus of this story. This is a Dark Leia story, so I'm focusing on the interaction between father and daughter. I'm planning on having this span through the OT, but I guess we'll have to see. Han will be involved, probably more so than Luke. As an interesting twist, I'm going to have Han hired by Vader to take Luke and Obi-Wan to the Death Star. Eventually, Han switches loyalties... The story begins differently, with Vader ordered to go to the DS instead of taking Leia there.

**Disclaimer:**


	2. First Sight

** Lord Darth Vader **strode through the hallway with long, deliberate steps. His entire form was in stark contrast with the pale grey interior of the _Executor_. Men trembled in his wake, darting to the side of halls to allow him to pass without trouble. He turned left sharply, entering his private quarters. He stepped around his computer system onto his holopad. As his knees touched the surface, a hologram flickered into play. Emperor Palpatine was the only person in the galaxy that could strike fear into the infamous Sith Lord's mind. Flesh hung off of his face in rolls, pale and peeling. Deep set yellow eyes were barely visible from Vader's submissive pose. The thick black cowl cast shadows on the man's face. "Ah, my apprentice," hissed the ancient man. Only years of practise prevented Vader from recoiling at the sight of the half rotted teeth, an irony that amused him to no end. A Lord of the Sith, killer of thousands, torturer, could not bear to look at poor oral hygiene."Master," he said softly, his mind shielded. "The death star plans," Palpatine snarled, "have been stolen. Our spies have intercepted several transmissions from rebel ships to none other than the Senator of Alderaan." Alderaan. Vader couldn't prevent his lip from curling. Those soft bellied fools! For nineteen years, he had been searching for proof of their approval of the Rebel Alliance. And now... "Senator Organa has been taken aboard the Death Star for a tour, apprentice." The Sith master smiled - or rather showed all his teeth in a grimace. "She just lacks a tour guide." His tone was mocking, scorning - smug and triumphant. In other words, torture her, get the information, and then have fun with her, Vader thought coldly. "It will be done, my master."

"And where is she, commander?" he hissed. The young commander swallowed and choked out, "Detention level, milord. Cell block AA-23." Vader spun on his heel, the tips of his cloak whacking the commander solidly in the face. AA block was boring enough. The security there was minimum. He took the lift down to the detention level, his anger growing. The _Convictor_, his star destroyer's sister ship, had been lost in the attack against the rebels. And it was because of this _senator_ that the galaxy was in turmoil. He practically plowed down a pair of stormtroopers as they walked by. "Out of my way," he snapped, his yellow gaze pinning them to the wall, even through the helmet. Done with that, he ignored the officers stationed by the entrance and made his way to the twenty-third cell. His mechanical hand slammed against the lock. He entered, the door clanging shut behind him. He looked at the figure, her back to him. And he froze. As a Sith, he had made a point not to pay attention to the senate. When Bail Organa stepped down, he had assumed that Leia Organa a sister of his. He did _not_ expect Leia Organa to be under twenty. She was a teenager! He poked her, then recoiled. Was he four or forty-three? Vader took a step back and reached out with his mind. Four things leapt out at him. The first was the amount of drugs in her system. She had been pumped with so much that he was actually feeling some semblance of emotion other than the Dark. Horror. This nineteen year old princess was most likely unable to hold up her head, let alone walk. She was unconscious, somehow. The drugs were supposed to keep her awake. The second was the fact that they didn't have any information, even though she had undergone four _long_ days of torture. The third was the mind shield that still remained unbroken. He couldn't even get a recent memory from her head. And the fourth and final thing was her force signature. He staggered backwards in shock. Even Yoda's wasn't that powerful. Even his _master's_ wasn't that powerful. Hers was only beneath his. But, that wasn't possible. Unless... He grabbed her and flipped her over so she was facing him. No._ No. _It wasn't possible. Palpatine had said he had killed his beloved wife on Mustafar. But here was living proof that he hadn't. Princess Organa was her spitting image. He turned and left the cell without giving her another glance.

The computer console was more than helpful. Vader sat in his black room, a lap sized computer on his lap. So, she had been born the day Padmé died. So, Bail Organa was her adopted father. How _surprising_. Not. Vader cursed himself in ten different languages. He had always known that Bail was his wife's closest friend in the senate. He must have been there when she died. So, she had gone into politics, defending the same thing Padmé had. So, she looked exactly like her. So, she had not been tested for a midi chlorian count. He jabbed a button on his desk; that had to change. "Milord?" a timid voice asked. "Get me an analysis of the princess's blood. Send it to my chambers," Vader barked.

Five very long minutes later, the analysis came through. Sixteen thousand! The count was sixteen thousand! There was only one reasonable explanation for this. Leia Organa was Anakin Skywalker's daughter. _His _daughter. He mentally cursed himself again.

* * *

It was a very ungodly hour, 0200. And yet he made a point to stalk down to the detention area. He punched the pad by the door again. She was asleep. Normal enough. Thankful that the cells didn't have cameras, he leaned against the wall, watching. How had Bail Organa taken what was rightfully his? Oh, right. He had been hacked into pieces. Bloody Jedi. But soon he would find Obi-Wan Kenobi and take his revenge. He had healed himself, using the cloning facilities on Kamino. Of course, his master didn't know this - and he still had a mechanical right arm. He couldn't understand the reason he still wanted that arm to be mechanical... Leia would know about his appearance, once he convinced her to side with him. Speaking of the princess... She must have sensed his gaze, because she rolled over and forced her eyes open. For a long moment, she just stared at him. Vader crossed his arms, waiting for her to speak. And speak she did. "So. You're back." He smiled painfully under the mask. "Back?" The vocalizer took all emotion out of his voice. The little spitfire managed to pull herself into a sitting position, fixing the Dark Lord with a vicious glare. "You've been watching me for _days_. I'm not telling you anything," she spat. Instantly fury filled him. She _dare_ make such a ... he forced the fury away, not finishing the thought. "You are in no position to say such things, Princess." He reached out - she half-flinched and shied a millimeter away - and pushed on one shoulder. She collapsed against the wall. Two weeks ago, such a feat made him feel (as much as a Sith can feel) some sort of satisfaction. Now it angered him. Someone had taken his _child_ and tortured her to the point of collapse. It was Sidious. _He_ ordered Tarkin to "interrogate" her. _He _had _lied_ to him about his wife. It was _his _fault. Silently, he looked at her. "My point," he half-snarled in lingering anger. She had to know, and she had to know now. The princess glared, physically unable to even sit up. "What do you want?" she hissed. Hatred was evident in her voice. No, it was obvious. An idiot would have known that she despised him. That will soon change, he thought. Drop the bomb and leave. "Perhaps I wish to know why your existence coincides with the child I was supposed to have, down to the day of birth and midi-chlorian count. Perhaps I want to know why you look exactly like my late wife." With that, he swept from the cell.

"Milord?" Vader spun to face the idiot addressing him. _"What?" _he growled. The young captain looked to be on the verge of fainting. "O-Our reports from Tatooine have come in," he stammered. "Excellent, Captain. Send them to my chambers." The man practically sprinted away.

Obi-Wan Kenobi? Vader wondered, his thoughts furious. How had he ended up with the droids. Unless... Leia had been sent by her "father" to bring him to the rebellion! Both gloved fists clenched. Prince Organa would regret that decision. But that was what led her here. Then, unbelievably, he brightened. If Obi-Wan knew that she was captured, he would be coming here. And so his plot began.


	3. Then and There

It was 0300. Still early. And Vader was meditating. He knew that Obi-Wan was coming. But _how_? How did that infuriating Jedi even know that the Death Star existed? Maybe Bail Organa had told him. _That_ infuriating man had told Leia. She had known, even before she had been dragged aboard and given a room. So why not tell Obi-Wan? He answered his circular reasoning question. Because Alderaan was being watched closely. Very closely. Wait a minute. Alderaan?

His lips forced themselves into a semblance of a grim smile. Perhaps Obi-Wan didn't even know that the Star did exist. Yes, his instincts told him that was true. So the old man was going to Alderaan? Good, because the Death Star was going to Alderaan. In fact, they'd be there in three days. Then what was left of his heart jerked to a stop. Three days? How was he supposed to convince a princess of Alderaan that the whole "peace and diplomacy are always the answer" thing was _not _the way his apprentice was to work. How could he possibly do that in three days?

The Dark side swirled around him, growing with his anger and frustration. He had to remember to not broadcast himself fully, or his master would notice. But the power was enough. It whispered the answers to his problem.

It was not Vader who had the pleasure of ordering Alderaan's demise. It was Governor Tarkin's. He, of course, assuming that Vader had tortured the princess for information, was trying to use the destruction as a method of persuasion. He came up with the idea first. Vader knew it was a futile attempt; Leia had too much of her mother in her. To be honest, he really didn't care as long as the planet was destroyed.

Now he stood behind Leia, gloved hands on her shoulders in restraint. She faltered, backing up into him as Tarkin pressed her for information.

"-have decided to test this station's destructive power on your home system of Alderaan," he was sneering. His face was the colour of curdled milk, shallow cheeks puffing out in an attempt to look intimidating. Vader _despised_ this man. If he just happened to squeeze... He almost jumped at the sudden vehement outburst of his only child.

"No! Alderaan is peaceful; we don't have any weapons! You can't possibly-"

"You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system!" Tarkin snarled. Leia was trembling now, as she lied to the power-hungry man. He, as predicted, believed her. Vader almost ordered the destruction himself, thinking furiously that Tarkin was going to stop. But then a surprise: "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."

Princess Organa gasped out a 'what?!' to which Tarkin smugly replied, "You're far too trusting."

Finally, _finally_, Vader felt the fury he was looking for. Leia was practically overflowing with it. She lurched forward, aiming not for the controls, as the casual observer would have expected, but for Tarkin. With reluctance, the massive Sith Lord tightened his grip, pulling her back to his chest plate. Tarkin needed to die, but now was not the time.

The Death Star fired. Alderaan was no longer. He almost collapsed under his daughter's grief and combined rage. Quickly, he grabbed the emotions before she could shut them away, forcing her to wallow in them. She fought back. Obviously, her foster-father had warned her of his power. He gritted his teeth, deciding to relent - for now. If she collapsed in tears on the deck of the bridge, he might have a serious total submersion in parenting then and there. He tugged the emotions away, feeling her dull relief.

"Should you need us, Governor, we shall be in my quarters." There was an audible murmur from the crew. They knew that whenever someone went to his quarters, someone died. And, Vader thought with satisfaction, someone will by dying, just as Anakin Skywalker did nineteen years ago.

In the end, he just knocked her out. She had lashed out like a cornered animal. His helmet had cracked from a blow from her foot, and that had been the final straw. Now, he dumped her on the bed unceremoniously.

He studied her, frowning as she stirred. Now that he had her, he didn't know what to do with her. Too late for planning - she was awake. Planning had never been one of his strengths anyway. On the spot action was more of his kind of thing.

"Welcome back," he said coolly. His ventilator took the sarcasm out of his tone. Her head snapped up. The once cool princess mask was gone, replaced by a look of extreme fear. Ah, Vader mused in relief. _She knows that I am her real father. But she got it after the subtle hinting... That should save us some time. Just don't loose your temper as you break through the lies. _Fat chance of that happening; she managed to infuriate him so quickly that he almost killed her more than once. Only the fact that she was his daughter and apprentice-to-be saved her.

"You can't just-" he bit back a sigh "-do that! I am a Princess of -!" She froze, those baleful brown eyes flitting to the eye spots in his mask. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she choked out, "I am nineteen. You can't have custody over an adult!"

He stared at her, utterly confused. Custody? Then the light bulb went off. If Bail Organa was dead, then the princess was up for adoption. He hadn't even thought of that. It was getting easier by the minute. Suddenly, he realised she was yelling.

"You _monster_! My _real _father told me about you! You're a machine!"

"A machine!" snarled Vader, feeling his anger rise dangerously. He spun away from the bed, ripping the helmet from his face. "Do I look like a machine?"

She crawled backwards in surprise. "I-"

"Your _father_ was right about me being a machine. It was because of Obi-Wan that it happened! He sliced me into pieces and pushed me into a pit of lava!" Her eyes widened in disbelief. "He watched me burn! He _enjoyed _it!"

"No," Leia whispered, shocked. "I don't believe you! Obi-Wan was a Jedi. They didn't-"

"I was a Jedi once too, Leia. I know of their falsities. Why do you think I turned on them? They were weak, foolish. They were like children! So afraid of the dark! But that darkness gives me power, more than I could have dreamed of!" He was barely in control. He wasn't shouting anymore, but his words were hoarse from the effort of keeping quiet. "You don't believe me? Why would Bail Organa have said such a thing to you, little princess? Why would he lie?"

Alderaan's Princess faltered for the slightest second. But then her resolve returned. "Love will always overcome hatred, Vader." It was said so calmly, so matter-of-factly, and Vader recoiled mentally. Should he have bothered trying to turn her? Yes. Yes, she _would_ turn. Turn to him or she would be dead.

Vader turned back around to face her. Obviously, she saw his calm. It clearly frightened her more than he thought possible. "Hatred destroyed your precious old Republic. Hatred destroyed your home planet. I am surprised, honestly. Light wouldn't have been able to save Alderaan. Perhaps if Tarkin hadn't lived-"

It worked. His daughter leapt to her feet, all fear gone from her face. "You!" she practically snarled. Hatred was flowing again, finally. He grabbed it, forcing it to sink into her force sense. Her reserve was cracking. She was weak from torture. The mind shield shattered. Greedily, he leapt forward mentally, finding the information he needed.

She gave an outraged gasp. By natural instinct, she used the Force, albiet subconsciously. All she did was put the shields back in place. It was all the Dark needed.

The Dark side of the Force flew into her mind. Vader could imagine the high she was on right now. The world was seen as if under a microscope. If she wanted to see it, the princess could see individual bits of dust in the air. Her hearing... the dropping of a feather onto a pillow wouldn't go unnoticed. Her strength... He could see the potential she had. She was gasping now. Gasping? With a jolt, he realised that she was probably completely overwhelmed. How would she know what to do with her power?

Yet again, he reached for her mind. But this time, he latched a part of himself there, creating the beginning of a father/daughter and master/apprentice bond. She was not happy about that. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't get rid of him.

Sighing mentally, he swiftly forced her to relax her hold on the Darkness.

He looked into the eyes of a trembling princess. "Ow," she whispered softly. She resumed her attack on the bond. "Stop it," growled Vader icily. Leia froze, struggling against the weight of the order. A minute or so later, she stopped, completely spent.

"Now that I have your attention, Leia, do you have any questions?" The second the words slipped out of his mouth, he regretted them. Was she nineteen or nine? He made an attempt to correct himself - but she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she actually did have a question.

"What do you want from me?"

Vader lifted an eyebrow. "You should know. Don't tell me that your cause still has reason to you."

She dealt out an absolutely vicious glare. Gods, he realised, she's going to be a handful. "The Empire is _wrong_," she insisted. Wrong? Vader instantly knew how to turn her, there and then.

"Leia, the Empire is wrong. But I just want peace."

That shut her up for a full thirty seconds. Then she shook her head.

Before she could counter him, he plowed on. "Palpatine needs to be killed. Help me kill him. Rule with me. Restore peace."

"The Alliance is doing that!"

Vader gritted his teeth so loudly that she must have heard. That stubborn princess was going to end up dead if she continued on like this. He tried to control his anger. "The Alliance doesn't stand a chance, Princess!" he hissed. "Why kill more people and fight that way than join me and end this quickly?"

_That _kept her silent for twenty seconds.

"It's wrong," she mumbled. This time, though, she didn't sound so certain. Vader practically jumped on that.

"Fine. Join me, but I'll let you go back to your precious Alliance. Tell me in six months how you feel. Think of what you could have, Leia! The expenses of the empire at your finger tips. You wouldn't have to hide anymore. Peace. So... join me." With that, she locked eyes with him.

"I want to know about my mother. I want -"

"You can have whatever you want, Princess. Assuming it isn't too unreasonable." He extended a gloved hand towards her.

She took it.


	4. Escape

**Author's Note:** I hope you guys could follow that last bit ... I realise now it might have been a bit jumpy.

**Leia**

It all made sense now, Leia mused. Why her foster-father would never speak of her _real_ mother and father. It was because they were afraid that if she knew who he was, she would join him. Fools. They had twisted the truth and then fed her lies. And they had paid for it.

Leia still grieved for Alderaan. She knew her master was annoyed by her emotional state, but he said nothing and allowed the misery.

Her _master_. She shuddered at the new title. A princess through and through, she did _not_ like the idea of serving someone. But the "bond" he had jammed into her head kept her in line.

Stupid bond.

Another thing she shuddered at was the cell she was in. Leia hated nothing more than to be crammed into a small area. And this cell was the very definition of small.

She was supposed to be out, soon, though. Her father had promised her. Vaguely, she wondered if she could keep up with the complicated plan he had formulated.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was to come to her cell and rescue her. A Jedi, her private rescuer. An old, decrepit Jedi, but a Jedi nonetheless. She blinked in half-hearted shock when hatred surged through her. It was the thought of the Jedi.

_I'm changing already, _Leia realised.

But she did nothing about it.

The cell door slid open. Leia's pulse skyrocketed. The person hobbling through the hatchway was a storm trooper. Or at least a man in a uniform. She, by the Death Star's record, was due for execution. What if Kenobi wasn't here in time?

"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" she said coolly.

Vader chose that moment to drop on by mentally. She jerked in surprise. Luckily, it looked like she had flinched away from her now apparent savior as he ripped off his helmet, revealing sandy hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you!"

Feeling confused, she struggled to answer the young man in front of her. "You're _who_?" was the first thing that popped out of her mouth.

The young man - no, the boy - gestured outside the cell. "Luke Skywalker. I'm here with Ben Kenobi!"

Oh, joy, Leia thought to herself, mental voice dripping with sarcasm. Fortunately, I'm a good actress.

She shot from the cell calling Obi-Wan's name.

And entered mayhem. Annoyed beyond belief, she snapped, "It looks like you managed to seal off our only exit!"

The blond boy looked offended, but he was too busy shooting to respond. Another man, with scruffy dark brown hair and hazel eyes, bit out, "Maybe you'd like it back in your cell, Your _Highnessness_."

_"Touché,"_ Vader said, displaying a not-very-appreciated sense of humor.

Leia didn't know who to yell at: her master or some random man? She decided the latter. She had seen what happened to those who defied Vader and did _not_ want to undergo his "interrogation techniques" again. "Just give me that!"

She grabbed the blaster from his hands, shooting at a grate in the wall. It exploded into a not-so-elegant poof of smoke.

"What're you doing?!" the man yelled. Eyeing him, she decided that she held a wonderfully deep loathing for him. Interesting.

"Somebody has to save our skins! Into the garbage shoot, flyboy!" And she dropped.

_Oh, this is _so_ gross, _the Princess groaned. Then: I hate white. I'm going to look disgusting. Luke What's-his-face landed with a loud splash next to her, spraying that brown, murky liquid into her face. She tried very, very hard not to think about what was in the liquid.

"Urgh," groaned Luke. He spotted a door. He aimed and fired at it before she could protest. The bolt flew into the door, then whipped around the room. Less than thirty seconds later, the second man and his pet wookie landed, doing the exact same thing.

"Will you quit it! I already tried that! It's magnetically sealed!" Luke griped hoarsely.

"Put that thing away or you're going to get us all killed!" Leia barked.

He retorted with what sounded like an equally harsh comeback, but she had slipped and missed the words, catching only the tail end. "... what a wonderful smell you've discovered!"

"Well, it could be worse!"

And a chilling, grinding hiss echoed throughout the chamber. Some animal's yell.

Luke spun. "There's something alive in here," he reported nervously.

"It's your imagination," the other man insisted.

"No! Something just moved past my leg!"

Leia resisted the urge to roll her eyes and squashed the urge to shoot him there. Didn't the idiot know that dyanogas lived in the garbage chutes? Apparently not. Suddenly he vanished.

She was delighted. Beyond delighted. The boy would die and she had no blood on her hands. But she had to pretend. She looked at blaster-guy. "Save him!"

He looked at the water franticly, the wookie howling mournfully. Then Luke appeared by the surface, long tentacle-like things wrapped around him.

"Shoot it!" he screamed.

"Where?"

"Anywhere!"

Han complied, but missed. And then Luke vanished again.

A long crunching/moaning/cracking sound filled the chamber. Leia froze. _No. _Her master wouldn't allow them to turn on the-

"The walls are moving!" a suddenly perfectly fine Luke yelled.

Okay, so he would allow them to turn on the masher. And _why _did that stupid boy have to state every single obvious fact? It wasn't like they were blind and deaf.

"Don't just stand there! Brace the walls!" she ordered. Hastily, the three of them obeyed. But, unfortunately, nothing worked. Luke pulled out a com-link, calling into franticly.

Leia lost her perception of time, trying to brace the wall. And then they stopped.

"You came in that?" Leia gasped. It had to be the most hideous thing she had even seen. "You must be braver than I thought!"

"Nice," the other man - who had a name of Han Solo - hissed.

They split up, trying to get to the ship. Han and the walking carpet - crunchy? Chewie, that was the wookie's name - hooked a left, screaming like idiots down the hall.

Mr. Obvious and Leia ran down the opposite hall. They came to a small bridge. She winced, watching in astonishment as he managed to cut off their escape route yet again. He improvised, grabbing a string off of his belt and making a swing-across rope. She gave him a kiss for luck (her skin crawled at the contact), and they cleared the gaping arena.

They hit the hangar when Solo hit the hangar. It was empty, and they managed to take off without a single problem.

Once inside, an old man with patched robes hobbled over. "Ben!" Luke said delightedly.

_Ben? _Obi-Wan! Leia realised. She bit back a sharp sentence and curtsied, playing the perfect princess.

And then the ship's alarms started flashing.

´´´77777&((#

AN: Okay, I know that near the end I was practically summarising, but I have every reason to... you guys know what happen in ANH, and the only difference was that Leia hates their guts and Obi-Wan lives. I'm also really, _really _tired... but enough excuse making. You needed an update. Thanks for reading!


	5. To & On Yavin IV

**Onboard the _Millenium Falcon_**

Leia stared blankly at the last Imperial ship as it exploded into flames. Four. Her father had sent four TIEs out to get them. The only reasonable explanation was that-

"We're being tracked, then. An unusual strategy for him." Kenobi finished her first thought.

Leia peered under her lashes at the wizened Jedi. He had been polite enough, she supposed. But he was nosy. She felt him probing around in her mind a few minutes after they had gotten onto the ship.

But what really irritated her was his tendency to speak in riddles. Could the blasted man say anything straightforward? The wet-behind-the-ears farm boy seemed to soak it right up. He listened to each word, daring to prolong the madness by asking questions.

Then the Jedi would have the boy pick up a lightsaber and try to block some bolts from a remote. Leia watched in amusement as he yelped each time he got shocked. Her master had set _her_ bolts to stun. She hit the floor in a faint ten times that quarter hour of training before she could block almost every bolt in a row.

But more annoying than both of them combined was the owner of the ship and his copilot. Han Solo and Chewbacca. Unfortunately, she understood the wookie when he spoke, so she caught each lewd comment. Solo- oh, Force, he was so arrogant, so obnoxious. He actually dared to toy with her title. Your Highnessness. Your Worship. Cocky, foolish smuggler. She desperately wanted to tell him who her father was. Would he be so confident then, hmm?

Leia watched the old Jedi frown and then correct something that Luke did wrong. Which, in her opinion, narrowed it down to everything. Then Kenobi caught her watching.

She felt the brushing that symbolised a mind probe. Instantly, she covered her deeper intent with open curiosity.

"Is something bothering you, Your Highness?" he asked eventually.

"Oh, no, Master Kenobi. Please, if you will, I'm just a little tired." Right, she thought to herself. Treat him with utmost respect.

He frowned again. "Do you need to lie down? I'm sure Captain Solo would-"

"No, I'm fine. Honestly." Honestly, I'm better than fine. My _real _father took care of me.

He sighed and bowed out figuratively.

* * *

Leia gave Solo the clearance code, still fuming over his mercenary attitude. He'd had the gall to say that he was in it for the money. Of course, she didn't care that he was in it for the money, or the fact that he wasn't joining the Alliance. She cared that he treated her like the scum on the bottom of his foot. Even his _pet_ was treated better than she was.

Whoa, she cautioned herself. Just because Chewie isn't human doesn't mean he doesn't have a brain.

She wanted to steer herself away from that kind of imperial thinking. In _her_ empire, all people would have a voice.

The ship landed with a dull thud. People scurried like rats around the ship, carrying out their businesses. Leia stood, stretching calmly. General Carlist Rieekan stood rigidly, talking to an auburn haired woman. Senator Mon Mothma.

She frowned. That woman was one of the most observant Senators she had ever known. A single slip up, and she could end up in a durasteel cell surrounded by rebel troops. Best not go there.

The hatch hissed and opened; Leia followed the men out. Rieekan suddenly grabbed her and gave her a crushing hug.

"Oh, you're all right! When we heard about Alderaan-" He faltered; as she did. The loss of her homeworld was the only thing about the Empire that she questioned. But her master had cleared that up. He hadn't wanted Alderaan to be destroyed. Her master wasn't the Empire.

"Yes, General. Please, I'm quite all right." Then she stiffened.

"No, Carlist," Kenobi interjected. "After being at the hands of Vader, I believe she needs more than just sleep."

Yes, she thought venomously. I need you to go away!

"When am I going to be paid?" Solo's voice sliced through the semi-argument. There was a long pause.

Rieekan recovered first. "I suppose now. We cannot thank you enough. I-"

Leia simply looked at the man in disdain. Killing him in plain sight was obviously forbidden, and -

_"-highness?" _Master Kenobi poked her. She jumped, trying to get away from his touch. Blasted Jedi.

"Yes, Master Kenobi? I'm sorry about that." Horrified, she realised that Rieekan and Solo had left. She must have been dazing... What had she said?

Kenobi waved her off. "It's fine. But there are a few people who have come to celebrate your return." He raised a hand, pointing. She spun. The entire Alliance had to have been there. She struggled to compose herself, mentally using every single swear word she knew.

"Princess! You're back!" someone shouted. And the people rushed forward, hugging and laughing.

Leia swallowed.

The base on Yavin IV was well hidden. It looked like a multi-layered pyramid, its stone walls covered with every kind of green plant possible. And, it sat in the middle of a fierce jungle. Nobody was getting anywhere on foot. Then again, it wasn't the people on foot that worried her.

With a long sigh, she turned, sinking gratefully onto the bed.

Her room was a small one: it had a small bed, a desk, and dark stone walls. It even had a joining refresher. Though she preferred the darkness of her Master's quarters, these would be fine.

Her Master...

A wave of sudden uneasiness swept through her. How was she supposed to contact him through the Force if the _Jedi_ was here?

Her hatred for Kenobi dipped another notch. She had fifteen minutes, max, in her quarters. It would take her a little over ten to create a strong enough shield.

_"Don't bother, Princess." _Vader's voice rang through her head. He sounded normal, human. Relief flooded through her.

_"Master!" _she cried back.

If he was there, he would have rolled his eyes. She was sure of it.

_"Is it that bad, my apprentice?" _The amusement that ran through his words was obvious.

_"No, Master," _she replied dutifully. She felt him relax with a small, evil chuckle. .

_"This must be brief, Leia," _he said after a moment. _"Tell me when they are attacking the Death Star."_

_"They're being briefed now."_

_"Indeed. Very well. I'm going out to fight as well."_

Shock rammed into her. She gasped out, _"What?! But Master-" _

_"I am the best flyer in the galaxy, Leia. Relax!" _

_"Master," _she acquiesced. Then, as an after thought: _"Kill some scum for me."_

Leia sighed as the Sith Lord departed.  


* * *

Leia Organa made it to the hangar to see Luke Skywalker's depressed face. Groaning inwardly, she walked over to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, just Han. I really thought that he would have changed his mind-"

"He has chosen his own path, just as you have chosen yours." _Your "path__," by the way, Lukie, is dying. _

Luke shrugged. The speakers blared. Skywalker smiled, turned, and rushed to his ship.

The former Princess of Alderaan, undercover Imperial, watched him go.

Thanks for the reviews! They're much appreciated! The next chapter should be in Vader's P.O.V.

Leia should be heard from mentally. And the grand finale of ANH!


	6. Battle of Yavin

**Vader **

They were attacking.

Vader sighed in impatience. The fighters were too fast for the gunners to catch them. Hence, the Imperials had to go out and actually exert energy. But of course, the Imperial troops were slow and plain bad. He needed to go out...

As the thought left his head, another explosion ripped through the bridge. Every other crew member besides him hit the floor, Tarkin included. Vader smirked beneath the mask as the man hastily picked himself up.

He noticed stormtroopers in the corridor and hastily made his way to them. Then he remembered that he should not look like he was being hasty. He slowed a fraction.

The troopers quickly reported, telling him what he wanted to hear. Satisfied, Vader ordered them out into the fight as well, and to cover him when he got out there.

Quickly, he strode down the hall towards the hangar. Stormtroopers scattered at the sight of him, but, as usual, he ignored them.

He leapt into his ship. The modified TIE fighter started instantly. Vader piloted out of the hangar. The fight was on.

The first fighter didn't know what hit him. He vanished in an elegant poof of smoke and flames. Ha, Vader thought uncharacteristicly.

He banked sharply to the port side, almost colliding with the wingmen. It was their fault, he reasoned, and then proceeded to kill some other rebel.

The Alliance, as Leia said they called themselves, had about twenty-five fighters left. It looked as if each run had ten men in it, with about three runs at the beginning.

He turned his fighter in a lazy arch, destroying about three others in three seconds. Then he stopped. Something nagged at the edge of his mind. _What? _he thought, yanking the controls to face the disturbance in the Force. _It's not possible. _

Three fighters, in a triangle, swept towards the one possible weak point in the Death Star. Quickly, Vader rose, then swept down, red lasers racing to the X-Wings. Boom. Seconds later, the point man fired, the proton torpedoes slamming into the exhaust port. A miss.

He exhaled angrily, his breath mask turning the noise to a static-like sound.

He busied himself with another fighter.

The Dark Side almost screamed with joy as the panic around it grew.

Then another three - the last three - swept in.

Vader hesitated. The leader... there was something funny about him.

Whatever. He dived, his wingmen in hot pursuit.

He paused again, reaching out to the man in control with the Force.

No, not a man. A _boy_. Nineteen years old.

_"It's the boy - Luke - who 'rescued' me from the Star,"_ a familiar voice mused. Vader almost flew into the side of the trench. Furious, he sent his understanding and anger her way, feeling her recoil with a silent apology.

But now he figured that he should spare the life of the boy, as a Sith-like thank you. Of course, as a test later on, he would have her bring the boy to him. Then she would kill him.

It would start a great Sunday.

The rebel swept onwards, his two "buddies" covering him. Ba... boom!

Lord Darth Vader fired again. To his utter disbelief, he only managed to cripple the fighter. It took about all of his self-control to not go rushing after the fleeing man.

To satisfy his anger, he murdered the other.

He reached out with the Force again - and practically choked on the innocence of the boy. It was a stupid _farm boy _from Tatooine! And the matter of his Force potential... well, his daughter's was stronger. Still, aloud he mused on the Force being with him. Odd.

Still, the innocence had to end. He began to fire.

His first hit was small: the R2 droid on one of the wings. It shrieked for a moment, then gave way to the smoke and fire. He aimed again, shooting... closer...

Leia's silent scream reached him just in time. He jerked out of the way, just as the fire thudded against his starboard wing.

"What?" he roared. The Force roared too. Seconds later, the Death Star exploded into a flash of white, pink, and red light. The impact of the explosion knocked his fighter into tail spins.

He managed to straighten his fighter, and he watched the X-Wing and the Corellian... thing... fly into Yavin IV's moon.

He followed them.

* * *

He landed his damaged fighter with reckless skill. Quickly, he jumped out of the fighter. He was bombarded with the Force, both sides. The jungle he was now in would be havoc to his suit, so he turned it off.

Then, cautiously, he reached out to his apprentice. If she was near Obi-Wan, then she couldn't acknowledge him. _Obi-Wan. _Again, Vader fumed. That blasted Jedi! First he turned his wife against him. Then he left him to die in a pit of lava. He was by _her_ side when she gave birth to her daughter. Then the child was hidden away from the rightful father!

But before he could plan how to destroy the Jedi, Leia responded.

The response was pure emotion for a moment: relief, amusement, disgust, elation. Then she began to formulate words.

_"The Death Star's gone. I am glad." _There was no sarcasm in her voice.

Confused, Vader roughly demanded why.

_"Because Tarkin is gone as well. As is the machine that destroyed my home." _

Ah, she was still angry about Alderaan. Uneasily, he changed subjects.

_"Do you still want to stay with the rebels?" _

It was a test question. He was the master; she was the apprentice. She did not control her own fate anymore.

She passed. Most unusual for an apprentice of the Dark.

_"I am fine for the moment, Master, but I will go where you wish for me to go." _

He sighed.

_"Let's meditate, Leia."_

He helped pull her into the Dark void. The sooner she got rid of the princess-like submission the better.


	7. Dealing With Fathers

**AN: **I hope this chapter'll make up for the shortness of the other ones. Back to Leia's POV.

* * *

**Leia**

It was about 2:30 in the morning. Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have been paid a million credits to get up at the inhumane hour. But being a Sith Lady made her rather inhumane. That, and her master requested - no, ordered - her to come to him. She dared not disobey.

She dragged herself from the bed, yanking a comb through her hair. Next she stumbled into her closet, trying to find something black. No luck... white shirt, white boots, white pants... why, in the name of the Force, did she have so much white?

Because it was Alderaan's official color. The color of peace, and flowers, and all happy things. Leia recoiled, dropping the stark white gown she held. She was absolutely disgusted. Peace wasn't exactly existent. Why represent dreams when you can get on with reality?

She found something black. It was a little more tight fitting that she would have liked, but her Master would have to deal with that or white.

The former Princess was too far gone to realise that she had started to turn her back on her home.

She was too busy thinking about the loose block. In her quarters, the far wall - the one by the desk - was made of duracrete blocks. Age had loosened them, and she found that if she used the Force to push one of them out of the way, she get into the forest undetected.

She turned, cloaking herself in Darkness, and did just that.

By the time she made it through the tangled jungle, Vader was practically a beacon of Dark energy.

"About time," he snapped. "What took you?"

Swallowing, she sank to her knees before him. "I had to avoid the Alliances's" - she couldn't keep the sneer out of her voice - "watchmen. I positioned them myself before I left."

"Just kill them next time! I haven't the time for you to be all princess-like!" he breathed. "And the correct term, apprentice, is _rebel_, not _Alliance_."

Leia bowed her head. "My master, the rebels will notice if one of their men drops dead."

She waited with impatience for his answer, eager to please him.

"Yes, I suppose. Very well." He reached out with a gloved hand and tilted her chin upwards.

She felt the swirl of Dark around her and she relaxed.

"Tell me about the Jedi," he commanded, his voice oddly gentle this time. Gentle for being immersed in the Dark, that is.

The Dark side whispered poisonous answers to her mind only.

Obediently, she relayed them.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Leia stared groggily at the datapad in her hand. Only Mon Mothma would load her with work the day after celebration.

"Your Highness!"

She jerked herself into awareness. Rieekan was calling her. The older man was a few feet away, two other men in tow. With another jolt, she realised that the men were Luke and Han.

What a great way to start a Sunday.

"I'm sorry, Carlist," she heard herself saying. "I was just thinking." She gave him a weak smile. Let him imagine what I was thinking about...

He nodded, but whether it was in sympathy or understanding she didn't know. "Look, Princess, I was just about to give these two gentlemen a tour. Care to come?"

_Uh, _no_, _she screamed at him silently. But outwardly she forced a convincing smile.

"I'd love to help you show the _boys_ around, General," she answered.

Her innocence didn't go missed by Rieekan. He fixed her with an icy glare.

She smirked.

Rieekan ignored the expression and turned, saying, "As you probably already know, men, this room and all of the rooms around it are used for ranking personel and their guests only. The only way to get in is with a keypass."

Leia stood, stepping into stride with Rieekan.

She was so focused on her own thoughts that only a few of Rieekan's words floated in. "Princess... alderaan... doves...medcenter... main hangar..."

Then she happened to take a glance around. They were in the hangar, but one of the private ones used for important ranking members only.

That was when she saw a ship. Not any ship, but _the _ship. Bail Organa's ship. Her foster-father was alive.

She tugged on Rieekan's sleeve. "General," she croaked.

He turned, obviously confused. Then he saw the ship as well.

_"Master__!" _she screamed through the Force. The general was quickly making his way to the starship, and she hurried to catch up.

_No no no no no _no_! _she repeated over and over again through her head. This ruined everything. Her foster-father would be the wrath of her _real_ father. And somehow his wrath would be her wrath. But she couldn't very well kill Organa in plain sight!

And Bail was the only person who knew her when she was out of her princess mask. He would notice any changes in personality like the color change of a wall.

No. No. _NO! _

Vader responded to her urgent scream. "_Leia, this had better be good. I-"_

_"Master, he's back! He's _here_!" _

She was in a state of utter denial and fear.

_"Enough of this. Relax! Use the Force. Who is there?"_

_"Bail Organa!" _

Silence. She managed to control herself, looking up at Rieekan.

The four of them stood under the ship's nose. Leia crossed her arms.

The hatch descended.

_Finally, _Vader and Leia thought similtaniously.

And then she found herself in the arms of the man she now hated.

_"Play along!" _her Master barked.

Uneasily, she hugged her "father" with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. She forced a single tear out of each eye, feeling ridiculously weak and foolish. Why her?

* * *

Bail stood calmly in the room. All of the higher-ups were there at the round table; Solo and Skywalker were also there for some unbeknownst reason.

"Thank you for coming," he ventured, and the waiting people instantly hushed.

_Like they had a choice_, Leia thought poisonously.

She had the unfortunate role of being a stuffed animal-like toy. Her "father" had her in a tight hug, refusing to let go, tightening if she squirmed in the slightest bit.

"I," he continued, "am unable to find words to express how I feel at this moment."

_You took the words from my mouth,_ she silently snarled.

"My daughter has been returned to me. The Death Star has been destroyed. And we now have two fine Jedi of unmatched bravery and skill in our ranks."

He paused for emphasis.

"I left Alderaan the same day that my daughter left. I went to Dagobah; she went to Tatooine to find Master Kenobi. I was working on finding the great Jedi Master Yoda. My attempts were unsuccessful for the time, and then I heard that Leia had been captured. By the time I got back, she had been rescued, and the Battle of Yavin, as we are calling it, had taken place."

He halted again.

"Our spies have confirmed that Lord Vader is indeed alive; he was seen rendezvousing with the Emperor earlier today. A dark figure was seen with him as well. It appears that he may have taken an apprentice."

Leia almost burst out laughing. _She _was the apprentice. The Dark figure they spoke of was one of the Emperor's hands. Miraculously, she stayed calm and straight-faced.

"Also, it appears that we are due for a change in bases. The Empire obviously knows that we are here, and we don't want to be sitting ducks, do we?"

Murmurs of assent rippled throughout the room.

"In the morning, we move to Dantooine. Good evening, gentlemen." He released her. Without another word, she swept from the room.  


* * *

_"What am I supposed to do?" _she asked her Master for the fifth time. This time, though, he had an answer.

_"Just relax. Be sure to meditate. The stronger control you have over the Dark the stronger control you will have over your emotions. Be just like the old Leia. Make allowances for the "torture" you went through under Tarkin. People will understand that."_

_"Yes, Master. We leave in the morning."_

_"Where to?"_

_She appreciated the irony of the statement. _

_"Dantooine, Master. Dantooine."_

**AN: **So, two posts in one day. Not bad, if I do say so myself. I just wanted to say that I'm going to start another story soon. I don't have the name yet, but it will be another Leia fic. It'll be a post ROTJ thing, where Anakin and Padmé come back to life. Check out my bio to find out more about it.

Thanks for reviewing. It's appreciated.


	8. Dealing With Boys

**AN: **Moving onto TESB. As a side note, this was my favorite of the OT. So, these chapters should be longer and more interesting. Expect some Leia/Han action... though the rating will _not_ go above T. Leia, btw, will be uber evil. Anywho, three years have passed. Leia has met with her master five times. You'll find out about most of them through flash backs. Thanks to those who keep reading!

* * *

**Leia**

It. Was. Cold. There were very few things that easily topped her hate list (for as a Sith, she hated almost everything). Jedi made it to the top. Their goodness was so sugar coated. Politicians - the bleeding hearts and the politicians that only had their benefits in mind - made a very close second. But what topped the two of those was the cold.

She shivered, glaring at the icy mounds around her in distaste. They were so cold as to be able to actually freeze her to death, but a stupid _farm boy_ from Tatooine hadn't managed to die outside... even when the temperatures were raging below -15 C.

Sighing, she stood. Her master had sent out thousands upon thousands of probe droids. One had _finally_ found them on Hoth. Lukie Boy had foolishly assumed that it was a meteor and had gone to investigate. A wampa had knocked him out, dragged him to his cave, and attempted to kill him. Of _course_, Lukie Boy got away. But he'd collapsed in the snow soon after.

It was Han Solo that came to Luke's rescue. Again. He'd gone out and spent the night with the farm boy in the freezing cold snow. And he still lived.

Leia stepped out through the door, practically stalking through the halls. She would be expected to see the boy's regaining of consciousness. People recognised her mood and wisely stepped out of her path.

But back to Solo. He was leaving, he said. Angrily, she recalled the "incident" yesterday morning...

_She'd been peering over someone's shoulder, looking at some kind of readout. Her foster-father and Rieekan were in the command room as well._

_Solo walked in, addressing Rieekan first. He mumbled something about checking all markers; in a louder voice, he said, "General, I've got to go. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a dead man."_

_Rieekan frowned. "A death mark's not an easy thing to live with. You're a good man in a fight, Solo. Hate to lose you."_

_Leia felt odd. Almost... disappointed? No, she quickly convinced herself. Merely annoyed that she hadn't the time to kill him. _

_Even being annoyed was a slight over exaggeration. She had been schooled for the last three years into a semi-emotionless state. The only true emotions that she felt were anger, frustration, pain - anything that lead to stronger Dark connections. _

_Her master, however, hadn't wanted to rid her of all emotions. To keep up a workable cover, she had to understand _some_ emotions, no matter how pathetic and weak they were. _

_And then Solo was there, catching her completely off guard. "Well, Your Highness. I guess this is it."_

_Completely forgetting she was supposed to care, she said coolly, "That's right."_

_She felt his fury and frustration spark. Calmly, she savored the emotions, allowing them to swirl around her._

_And then Solo was gone. _

_Almost swearing, she rushed after him, ignoring the startled glances from other Alliance Members. _

_"Han!" she called icily, trying to regain her temper. He spun, face tight with pain. Had she not been trained to see through facial masks, she doubted she would have seen it. _

_"Yes, Your Highnessness?" he snapped back, his voice just a tad below hers. _

_"I thought you had decided to stay!" _

_"Yeah, well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mandell changed my mind."_

Oh, gods. I can't believe I'm going to say this, _she thought in horror. Bracing herself, she choked out, "Han, we need you!" _

_His face was suddenly arrogant, full of smugness. "We need? What about you need?"_

_"I need?" she repeated in utter confusion. Curse this smuggler for making _her_ feel so foolish. "I don't know what you're talking about!"_

_He snapped his fingers. "Probably not." And then he stormed on. _

_Again, she followed, yelling, "Am what precisely am I supposed to know?"_

_More people were in this hall; they simply went around arguing pair. _

_"C'mon! You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me!" He jerked to a halt, turning again to face her. _

_She didn't know how to respond to that one. Hastily, she barked out, "Yes, you're a great help to us. You're a natural leader."_

_"No! That's not it."_

_Before she could come up with a stinging retort, he called her on it. "Ya see! Huh?" _

_"You're imagining things." How dare a smuggler talk her down? If he knew who she was... oh, she could see her father tightening his metal fingers in a pinching motion..._

_"Am I?" Han snarled. "Then why are you following me? Afraid that I'd leaving without giving you a good bye kiss?"_

_Without thinking, she said viciously, "I'd just as soon kiss a wookie." _What_ was he insinuating? _

_"I can arrange that! You could use a good kiss!"_

The memory still made her fists clench in anger. She had to consciously loosen her grip on the Force as well. If she held it too tightly, the Jedi might notice.

She hooked a left, barely making it as Lukie Boy gained consciousness. While he was removed from the Bacta tank, Leia waited with extreme impatience in the side room.

The door slid to the side minutes later. Leia plastered a smile onto her face, mentally shielding herself from every posible thing she could think of.

"Luke!" she breathed. "You're okay!" She held her breath, waiting for the Jedi to call her bluff. He never did.

He went on and on about how grateful he was to be alive. By the end of the five minutes, she was ready to throttle him. If she heard one more thing about "the Force being with him"...

Of course, Solo walked through the door, both saving and condemning her. His walking carpet followed.

She was preparing to leave to "give the boys some time alone" when Solo blurted cockily, "So, Your Highness, looks like you managed to keep me around a little longer."

"I had nothing to do with it," she replied unthinkingly. A small crack in the ice appeared above his head. So tempting, such an _innocent _death. She moved on. "General Rieeknan thinks it's dangerous for any ship to leave the system. "

"I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

Behind Solo, Lukie Boy fumed.

She fumed as well. "I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain."

Chewbacca gave a roaring laugh.

Solo gave him an annoyed look. "Laugh it up, fuzzball. But you didn't see us alone in the south passage. She expressed her true feelings for me."

"Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy looking, _nerf herder_!" she spat. The princess was literally unable to register what the smuggler was hinting.

"Who's scruffy looking?" he shot back.

She nodded icily, disbelieving. "Well, you obviously don't know anything about women."

And she kissed Lukie Boy on the lips.

The Force screamed in warning; her senses reeled. The sudden contact stunned her Force-sense. She wanted to get sick, then and there. But then Solo...

By sheer will, she calmed herself down, gathering as much Darkness as possible without alerting Lukie Boy. A speaker blared, asking for all high ranking personal to report to the command center.

Relieved beyond belief, Leia stalked from the room.

Solo followed.  


* * *

**AAN: **Another author's note. I'm considering changing my name to Queen Avreina. It's the name of a character in a book I'm writing. I'm not trying to say that I feel superior to everyone, I just... sighs Hopefully you understand my scrambled thoughts.

Anywho, thanks for reading!


	9. Battle of Hoth

Rieekan greeted her: "Princess." The simple title satisfied Leia for the time being. He continued, "I think we may have a visitor."

The probe droid! It took all of her might to not jump up and down in triumph - but that obviously would have blown her cover. That, and Sith did not feel joy, only satisfaction. She pushed the emotion away with ease.

"Whatever it is, it's metal," someone pointed out.

Wait. _What? _

Solo was there. Why was Solo there? After she'd kissed - EW - the Jedi, she had stalked away to the Command Room. He must have followed her...

"Could be a speeder, one of ours," the follower suggested.

"There's something very faint coming through," a techie pointed out. He pressed a button.

Leia focused on the sound played on the speakers. She blocked out all other sounds... yes, the droid wasn't using a frequency used by the Alliance. In fact, it was a frequency sent directly to her father.

C-3P0 hobbled out of nowhere, raising a stiff golden hand as if asking for permission to speak. "If I may say so, sir, I am fluent in over six million forms of communication. This frequency is not one used by the Alliance."

"Well, whatever it is, it isn't friendly. I'll go have a look." Solo vanished.

Relieved, Leia prepared to depart at well. Her master would want to know what was going on. It had been a while since -

"Leia!"

She spun, furious that he hadn't addressed her by her title. "Yes, general?" She honestly couldn't blame him. Right before she'd seen the Light - or the Dark, in this case - she asked him to call her by her first name.

"Your father has just called a meeting. Higher ups only. He said that Master Kenobi has noticed something."

"Noticed something? Noticed what?"

She knew exactly what Kenobi had noticed: the Dark Side growing stronger. In other words, he had noticed her.

Apparently, though, he hadn't said anything; Rieekan simply shrugged.

* * *

"Vader must have taken an apprentice." Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi said this without preliminary.

They sat at a round table. Thirteen of them, including herself. The room itself was round, with only the table as furniture. Everything was _white _and absolutely _freezing_.

"Why do you say that?" Mon Mothma asked quietly. The tall woman looked more strained than usual. Luke, playing his pathetic role as padawan perfectly, answered, "There is a huge disturbance in The Force. It's building, like a volcano before it explodes. It seems the apprentice is being kept close to him, though. We assume that the apprentice is still completely loyal to Vader. That might change-"

A hushed whisper echoed throughout the room.

Leia bit back a sharp retort. Vader was her master, her father. Why would she betray him?

She composed herself. It was harder than it should have been.

"Why do you think it is another person? Why can't Vader just be getting stronger?" She tried to allow a touch of fear into her voice, but she hadn't felt fear in such a long time...

"Ah, Princess, if Vader was a whole human being, then yes, that is a possibility. But Vader is more machine than man, and he can only be so strong. The emperor is not a strong as the people would like to think."

Murmurs broke out; glances were exchanged. She put on her best mask.

Bail stood after a moment. "What do you propose we do?"

But before she could crush them, Kenobi ventured, "With your permission, Luke and I will travel to Dagobah. Master Yoda might have a solution."

Yoda! Leia didn't know who he was, but obviously Kenobi and Lukie Boy respected the master enough to ask him for advice.

"Will he be able to sense the difference as well?" Mon Mothma asked. "Dagobah is much farther away."

Sense the difference? Leia instantly knew that they spoke of a Jedi. The deep feeling of hatred almost overwhelmed her; she struggled to relax. Soon, she could contact her master. He would tell her what to do.

The Jedis' wish was granted. They departed, and the rest of the room shuffled out after them.

* * *

Leia suddenly heard Solo's voice through the headphones.

"-self destruct. I didn't hit it hard."

Oh. Clearing her head, she pulled up an image on the screen. It was the one he had sent.

"An imperial probe droid," she breathed. Her voice was full of disgust and apprehension. All of it was directed towards the Rebellion.

Again she heard the speakers crackle. "I-best-Empire knows we're here." She ignored the static.

"I guess we'd better start the evacuation." Carlist Rieekan's voice was heavy with regret and sadness.

She looked up at the speaker, trying to conceal her delight.

* * *

Everyone around her was annoyed. They were frustrated, upset, and impatient, but not one person was scared. They were too hardened by battle, or too shocked.

That made her angry.

She was in her room, throwing her "important" things into a bag. Finally, she stopped, reaching for her comlink.

She pressed the call button. Less than a second later, her master picked up.

"Leia?" he rumbled. His voice was deepened by the mask.

She shivered. Rarely did the great Sith Lord speak to her with the helmet nowadays.

"Master," she choked out.

"Why not just contact me though The Force?" he snapped. He clearly wasn't in the greatest of moods.

"The Jedi! They've sensed something!" she answered, a bit more sharply than needed.

That shut him up for a solid second. Then: "Sensed _something_? What have they sensed?"

"A growth in the Dark Side. Master, that isn't why I called. Organa has given them clearance to visit another Jedi. Yod, or Yoda, or-"

"What?!" roared Vader. "That fool is alive?"

She could feel the Dark Side growing; she reveled in it. But she didn't have long to flirt with the Dark, for her father instantly began pressing her for information.

"What has happened since the last time I spoke to you?"

"The rebels have discovered and destroyed the probe droid. An evacuation, started about half an hour ago, is still taking place. Kenobi and Lukie Boy have not left yet."

Then she jumped. She felt a massive lurch in the Force. Darker power, more powerful than her own, suddenly gathered.

"You just came out of lightspeed," she realised aloud.

"The Alliance will not live to see the next day," Vader breathed. "The Jedi - leave them to me. Then, together, we will take Yoda."

And then he cut the connection.

A few moments later, an explosion ripped through the building. The Battle of Hoth was on.

* * *

Leia stood in the middle of at least fifty men, each one in identical orange suits. A debriefing, she supposed.

"There are only two fighters per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports."

A dubious man said dully, "Two fighters against a star destroyer?"

The unsaid "we'll be crushed" made all the others shift nervously.

She ignored the shuffling, giving the man a vicious glare in response. If she said something, they should have _listened_. Why couldn't the Rebels have troops as efficient as the ones on _The Executor_?

"The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any enemy ships will be out of your flight path. When you've gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?"

"Yeah" was the response, though with various levels of enthusiasm.

"Then good luck!" she called, watching them go.

Leia was still barking orders ten minutes later. The Command Center was heavily hit, but she and three others were still in the room.

She couldn't see what was happening, but she could sense everything. Of course, she wouldn't be denied an amusing holovid that night. Her father would have recorded the fight.

The princess did know that Imperial Walkers were walking (imagine that) slowly to the headquarters. Ten more minutes and we all will be dead, she thought in vague amusement. Or, _they_ will be dead, and _I _will be laughing at them by my true father's side.

The room rattled again, chunks of ice narrowly missing her and Rieekan.

"I'm not sure we can manage two transports at the same time!" Rieekan said into her ear.

"It's risky, but we'll manage!" she shot back.

Another explosion rocked the room.

"We have no choice," she told Rieekan hastily.

He nodded, quickly turning and barking into his comlink.

Solo barged into the room.

"Why are you still here? You were cleared for takeoff!" Leia half-screamed at him.

"I heard the command center got hit," he snapped.

"Just leave!"

He leapt over the debris. "Sure, I'll leave. But first I'm gonna make sure that you get to your ship!"

C-3PO agreed heartily.

She ignored him. She leapt over the other debris, harshly ordering all of the fighters from section twelve to the south rim. There, they could "protect" the fighters.

Sparks flew everywhere. Snow fell in massive heaps, crushing the machines.

"Imperial troops have entered the base! Imperial troops-" A rush of static cut the speaker off.

Han grabbed her arm. She glanced at him, unnerved by the sudden contact.

She turned back to Rieekan. "Give the evacuation code signal. And get to your transports!"

Han pulled her away before she realised what was happening. He half-dragged her down the halls. Finally, she ripped herself from his filthy hands, pulling ahead. She had to be alone if she wanted to pull this trick.

She managed, if only barely. A snap of her fingers brought the ice just ahead of her to the ground. Her shriek was added for emphasis.

Han barreled into her, then past her, franticly shoving the ice aside.

Then, apparently deciding that pushing a ton of ice wasn't going to work, he pulled her to her feet and lead her in the opposite direction.

"Transport, this is Solo. I can't get to you; I'll get her out on the _Falcon_."

Leia glared at him, but he didn't see it. He yelled at a hobbling Threepio to hurry up and sped past him.

She rushed after him. A Dark tendril touched her mind-Father. She allowed the tendril in. Instantly, she felt The Force shift. Vader was in the building.

A diluted relief flooded through her. Her father was here. She would be having a real shower tonight.

They entered the hangar. Solo pushed her to his ship. Then they both froze.

An ebony cloak whipped around the corner, followed by an ominous breathing. Vader.

Leia looked at him, then at Han.

_"Kill him and let's be done with this," _Vader's cool, familiar voice ordered.

She spun to face Han, hand falling for her lightsaber.

A snap-hiss sound echoed throughout the chamber.

Imperials and Rebels alike froze.

Obi-Wan Kenobi stood at the ready, lightsaber humming softly.

Leia sprang forward, only to have a wookie hold her back.

_"Master!" _she cried in frustration. Could she use The Force and end this?Apparently not.

_"Go with them," _Vader commanded, changing his mind at the last second.

_"What?!" _she screamed.

_"GO!" _

She allowed Chewbacca to drag her into the ship.

Vader lunged for Kenobi, his lightsaber brandished. But then the _Falcon_ took off. Leia almost screamed.


	10. Asteroid Chase

Hey, guys. Sorry I took so long to update. I should have another chapter beside this one out tonight. Also, I published another story. Check out my profile. Thanks!  


* * *

Explosions rocked the _Millenium Falcon_. Leia thanked the Force that she had a stomach that didn't get queasy very easily. Still... her stomach groaned as Solo made yet another twist/dive/free fall/shoot movement with his bucket of bolts. In the back of her mind, the part that... _respected_... the rebels, she supposed that the smuggler had excellent piloting capabilities.

Then she saw the TIE fighters. She stared at the seven little bow-tie looking ships. What? If the ship got hit, it might -- actually, considering its current state, it would -- explode. A very un-Sithlike emotion rushed through her, an emotion that she hadn't felt since the first Death Star. Fear. What if her father ordered them to destroy the ship, completely aware of the fact that she was onboard?

Chewbacca roared. Solo barked back, "I saw 'em, I saw 'em!"

Leia almost jumped out of her seat. "Saw what?" At least her usually icy voice hadn't melted, even if her inside composure was starting to.

Solo jabbed at some random buttons. Unsurprisingly, the buttons had no effect. "Star destroyers, two of them, coming right at us!" he said, so quickly that she almost missed the words.

C-3PO appeared out of nowhere. "Sir, sir, might I suggest-"

"Shut him up or shut him down!" Solo bellowed, shoving the golden droid out of the way. Chewbacca roared again; Threepio had been shoved onto Han.

The captain ignored him. "Check the deflector shields!"

Chewbacca grunted something. Solo grunted as well, though a bit more understandably. "Great. Well, we can still out maneuver them!" And he flipped the ship into a stomach-dropping dive.

_Okay, that's it! _Leia told herself. _"Father!" _she screamed mentally. By now, she didn't care that she sounded like a five year old child. This was sheer insanity.

Lord Vader was meditating, it seemed. Her scream pierced his murderous thoughts.

_"_What_, Leia?" _he snapped. She recoiled. _"They're not going to kill you! They're trying to draw you in." _

Rebuked, she drew away.

A giant crunch was heard. She froze. What on this ship could make such a noise? Then she saw the destroyers. In their clumsy haste to reach them, the officers on the ships had a headlong collision.

Solo twisted his ship again, then they were on a straight path. "Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed!"

"But sir!" Threepio protested. Leia almost strangled the droid on the spot. She eventually reasoned that she couldn't strangle him. She wouldn't be able to feel his life force draining away. Just hearing his bolts crackle wouldn't be enough.

Frustrated, she turned to Solo. "They're getting closer."

"Oh yeah? Watch this." He reached up and pulled on two levers. The engine spluttered and coughed - and _died_.

"Watch what?" she demanded.

Silence, until a blast rocked the ship. "I think we're in trouble."

"If I may say so, sir, I noticed earlier the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged," Threepio wailed pitifully. Too bad Sith didn't pity. He continued, "It's impossible to go to lightspeed."

"We're in trouble!" Solo exclaimed, a touch of fear in his usually calm voice.

Pilot and copilot threw themselves over the chairs, scrambling into the back. Solo's foot whacked Leia in the chin, and it took all of her might to not strangle him on the spot.

_I think I'm becoming a little bit too much like Father,_ she mused. Then a thought struck her. _What's so bad about that? _

She listened to the boys yell at each other. Now that she knew the people on the Star Destroyers weren't trying to kill her, she wasn't going to make any effort to fix the revolting ship. Of course, if she _wanted_ to, then the ship's hyperdrive could be fixed in minutes. She leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes -

THUD. She yanked her eyes open. Rocks. Lots of flying rocks. Asteroid field. Damn.

For a moment she had a mind blank. Then she called, "Han! Get up here!"

She heard him com running; she moved out of his way.

"Asteroids. Chewie, set two-seven-one."

Leia bit back a gasp. What was he thinking?! Two people could easily navigate an asteroid field, herself and her father. Who did this smuggler think he was? She expressed such doubts. "What are you doing? You're not actually going into an asteroid field!"

"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" was his arrogant response.

"You don't have to do this to impress me," she said urgently. How she had wished to be around when he made a mistake...

"The possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately three thousand, seven hundred twenty to one!" Threepio rambled. His hard, golden arms flailed about desperately.

"Never tell me the odds!"

Han flipped around two asteroids.

The hunks of rock floating before them suddenly flared with light, twice. Leia reached out, sensing. Two of the fighters had collided.

Han spun again, and this time, Leia's stomach lurched. She clutched the back of his chair.

"You wanted to be around when I made a mistake, sweetheart. This could be it!"

Leia blinked. When had she said that out loud? Not right then. Then... "I take it back," she snapped. "We're going to be pulverised if we stay out here much longer."

"Ain't gonna argue with that," he muttered. "Set to go in closer."

"Closer?" the princess hissed; the droid echoed her sentiments.

True to his word, the smuggler flew closer. He steered between a trench -- like before, two spots flared on the rock. Bye bye, fighters.

And then he flew into a hole. They were safe.

For now.


	11. Waiting, pt 1

**AN: **Okay, peeps, this chapter'll be from Han's P.O.V. I said that the next chapter would be out today, but the site changes screwed it up. Lo siento.

* * *

That woman confused him to no end. One minute she would be bearable, the next it seemed like she had Darth Vader's temper. Sometimes she would ignore his arguments, the other times it was like she would rather murder him than allow one of his comments to sink in.

Sighing, Han Solo wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. How did one girl manage to completely dominate his thoughts? Was it her form? Her full lips? Her hips?

Then, of course, it was the fact she was a princess. Surprisingly, to him, money didn't matter as much anymore. But still...

No. It was something else. There was something about the young princess that mystified and intrigued him. She was hiding something. Something that was of vital importance. That was what caught his attention.

But what could she hide? Ever since their first meeting on the Death Star, she had grown colder, icier. It sometimes seemed as though she wanted to lash out, to physically harm somebody. But why would she want to harm a member of a rebellion that she helped to lead?

Something he pressed gave a loud crunch.

"Sith!" His swear surprised even himself. Or maybe it was the fact he had snapped the tool he was using in half. He grumbled more curses under his breath, crawling out of the engine compartment. Chewie would have a spare. _Should _have a spare, he thought.

He trudged through his ship, the smuggling compartments beneath him amplifying the sound of his steps. And then something beeped.

He froze. It sounded like a comlink. Normal, everyday occurrence.

At least, when they weren't stranded in a ship that had its communications blocked.

His hand slid towards his blaster. Maybe he was just overreacting.

Nope. The thing beeped again. He gripped the frame of the door.

And then he heard Leia's voice.

"Yes?"

He was shocked. Her voice was so dark, so _evil_ that his mind screamed in warning. That simple word flipped his world upside down.

Then his galaxy was flipped upside down when he heard the replying voice.

"He sensed another Force-user, Leia. Perhaps screaming at me during meditation helped solve our issue."

Han registered a number of things. One, the speaker was on familiar terms with her. He knew, like, three people that could call her by her first name without getting their heads chewed off. Two, Leia had apparently been yelling at someone, which was most unlike her.

"My Lord, I didn't mean to-"

"Enough. I know why you were foolish enough to contact me. Do not do it again."

There was a pause. Then Leia's voice came through, weak and submissive. "Yes, Master."

Solo choked back a very un-manly gasp. His time in the Academy had taught him many things - most of it brainwashing. But the day Lord Vader came into play, he paid attention. Most of the stuff said was stupid, like how much of a help the oh-so-dedicated Dark Lord of the Sith was to the Empire. But then he heard that Vader was the apprentice. His master was unknown.

His _master_. Dark _Lord_. Coincidence? He thought not.

"Tell me, where are you? Who are you with?"

"Umm. Since your ship is out of the field, you're actually passing us. The other two are still behind us yet."

There was a pause. "I'm with a droid, a wookie, and a smuggler. We're stranded in the middle of an asteroid field."

An odd tone came into the man's deep voice.

"A smuggler? If he lays a hand on you, I swear I'll skin him alive."

Han swallowed.

"I'll beat you to the job, Master," Leia promised vehemently.

The man gave a malicious sounding chuckle. "I'm sure you will, my daughter," he murmured. "I will see you soon."

"Master?"

A surprised breath came from the other end. "What?"

Leia was hesitant, but she still asked. "What happened to the Jedi?" The hatred in her voice was unmistakeable.

He growled, a shocking sound. "Kenobi got away. A boy with blonde hair came and interfered."

The princess gave a soft, frustrated groan. "His apprentice, Luke."

"Indeed. I will see you soon."

Beep. The conversation ended, with no chance for her to extend her welcome.

He gasped in air, unaware that he had been holding his breath. Oh, gods, he thought weakly. Who is this girl?

He staggered back to the hyperdrive. There, he collapsed into a heap.

_Think, Solo, think. Pull yourself together! _He thanked the gods that he could think clearly in a crisis. And this was a crisis.

She addressed the man as "Master" and "My Lord". She obviously obeyed what he said with little or no questions asked. She held a deep contempt for the two most respected men on base. She was from a peaceful planet, and she sounded dead serious when she spoke of skinning him alive. She willingly divulged her location. And, somehow, she knew where the Star Destroyers were in relation to their stranded state.

Force-sensitive, Han realised franticly. She can touch the Force! But if she hates the Jedi, then what...?

Oh, sith. Pun intended.

Well, how am I gonna get out of this one? he wondered. By doing the unexpected. Great. What was that?

_"If he lays a hand on you, I'll skin him alive." "I'll beat you to it, Master." _What if she didn't know that he'd caught her? Then he could continue flirting. If a threat had been intended, what better way to push the threat aside than to do what you weren't supposed to?

Han realised that his life was on the line. (No kidding) If he didn't seduce the woman who was most likely his greatest enemy, then he, and the Alliance, were doomed.


	12. Breathe

Meditating. Leia inhaled slowly, then exhaled. Inhale. Pause. Exhale.

The Dark trickled into her, refreshing her with its sharpness - and clarity?

Yes, clarity. The Dark was perfectly clear here, free of its light side taints - unlike back at the base, where the Jedi littered the air with their light.

Inhale. Leia remembered informing her father of the Jedi. Pause. He had not been happy...

_It was one of the three or four times that she had managed to see her Master since the Death Star. They'd just finished sparring, and she had been utterly exhausted. _

_They were on Yavin IV, a location that was slightly ironic. The _Executor _was in orbit around the planet. The rebels were there, searching for some kind of artifact with the two Jedi. For a farm boy, he was pretty powerful in the Light Side of the Force. Putty in her hands, of course. _

_Vader, unsuited and disguised as a native, met her in the temple, the old base. He proceeded to train her in the arts of lightsabers. Though she had extensive training while he "held her captive" for three months, she was rusty. _

_Unsurprisingly, he creamed her each time. _

_They finished with a light meditation. She was just pulling herself out of the trance (being careful so she wouldn't alert the Jedi) when he asked, "Do you feel that?" _

_He referred to the quivering of the Dark Side. She nodded, stretching out her loose muscles. _

_It happened again, this time identified as a light sider. A Jedi. The Force-signature was impossible to miss. _

_"Skywalker," she hissed slowly. The bloody padawan was probing them. _

_Vader froze. And then, before she knew it, she was being thrown against the wall with the Force. _

_Shocked, she struggled to free herself, but in vain. _

_"Where did you hear that name?" he demanded icily. His eyes were a sickening sulfurous yellow, and anger rolled off of him in waves. _

_Petrified, she somehow managed to choke out her emotions. She spluttered, "The boy! It's the apprentice's name!" _

_The pressure on her vanished, and she collapsed onto the floor. _

_"The padawan?" _

_She nodded franticly. "Luke Skywalker. He helped to destroy the Death Star. Actually, he did destroy it. Can you imagine the odds..." She babbled on until he snapped at her, ordering her to be silent. _

_He himself was quiet for what seemed like hours. Then he muttered, "My last name was Skywalker. The boy's my son." _

_She believed him. Her was her Master; why would he lie?_

_Leia stared, feeling the bile rise in her throat. She actually gave a small dry heave when she realised that she was related to a _Jedi_. She'd prefer to be related to a hutt. _

_"How?" she gasped. _

_Vader shook his head. "How are you alive?" he asked rhetorically. "You must be twins." He fell silent again. And then she froze. _

_What if Luke was more powerful than she was? Her Master would want to have the more powerful child under his command. _

_He gave no signs as to what he thought about her thought. She knew that he had heard it. But he never responded. _

Pause. Exhale.

And he still hadn't. What if she was leading herself into a trap?

Inhale. Pause. Exhale.

She focused on her breathing, then abruptly pulled out of the meditation. Her head screamed at the sudden loss of Dark like her lungs would for air. Sighing, she stood and headed to the cockpit.

---

Solo was, as expected, franticly pushing and poking buttons. She gave a glance 'round, easily identifying the problem. Hmm. She watched him labour, amused (as a Sith could be) beyond normal means.

And then something interesting happened. He noticed that she was there... and his fear jumped into inhumane levels. She blinked, shocked. Solo, as pathetic as he was, usually had a strong control over his emotions.

He was scared of her. Terrified. Normal... but not if he didn't know who she was. Which meant - he'd heard the conversation between herself and her master. Which meant he knew she was an Imperial. Which meant she had to kill him.

Upsetting, she mused. Not. Her hand reached for her belt, where her lightsaber swung, hidden from sight. This made things a lot less complicated.

And then he shocked her. He looked up, met her in the eyes, and winked.

"Hey, Your Highnessness." He smirked, the smugness in the action hard to overlook. He stood slowly. "How's it goin'?"

She stared, completely thrown off by his actions. They contradicted what The Force told her. And she had always, always trusted The Force.

And then the ship gave a massive lurch. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't sense it coming. So that was how she found herself in the arms of a smuggler.

For gods' sake, she was practically on top of him. She struggled, remembering that she had to play weak. "Let go."

"Hold on" was his response.

She tried again. "Let go, please." This time she added some real pressure.

His reply shocked her, even past her Sith facade.

"Hold on, Princess. Don't get excited."

She bit back the indignant gasp and snapped, "Being held by you, Captain, isn't quite enough to get me excited."

He smirked again. He picked her up by the waist, depositing her a foot away or so, and said cockily, "Sorry, sweetheart. I don't have time for anything else."

And then he was gone.

Leia watched him go, honestly bewildered. Was the Force wrong?

What did the bloody captain want?


	13. Waiting, pt 2 then Leaving

Leia stared at the _thing_ in the window in astonishment, furious that it managed to surprise her into jumping. It was a Mynock. They fed off of energy and metal, which meant the ship was in serious danger. If one of the filthy things tugged at the wrong bolts...

They had appeared out of nowhere. Obviously they hadn't come from Hoth: they would have frozen to death before they managed to flap a wing. So, Leia wondered, where are we?

She reached out with the Force, quickly scanning the area. She sensed four life-presences, a droid, a ship - the mynocks made the life-presence go up to ten. And then she froze. Four and six made ten, but there should only be three original forces... and that meant...

She lurched to her feet. She might be a little crazy from being around the rebels, but she'd take Palpatine's empire over being in something she thought was alive any day.

The _Executor_'s crew would have common sense enough to not destroy the ship. Leia knew her father was personally overseeing the progress on the bridge. The crew members knew that the Dark Lord's appearance meant that he wanted the passengers. Alive.

But he couldn't order the other destroyers not to blast them to bits. He had no reason behind the command, at least not one that he could explain.

"Han!" she shouted, and hastened (because royalty never rushed) to where the captain and the walking carpet were working.

He looked up from the engine that he was practically standing on. He cocked an eyebrow when he saw her less than dignified entrance.

"There's something out there," she hissed, ignoring his idiotic expression.

He froze. "What?"

"There. Is. Something. Sucking. On. The. Ship." She watched realisation dawn on his face, and he leapt out of the workspace and called Chewbacca.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, jogging to follow his erratic movements around the ship.

He strapped an oxygen mask to his face, the carpet doing the same. Solo barked, "I just got this ship put back together, sweetheart, I'm not gonna let something rip her apart!" And he and Chewbacca vanished.

Leia went scarlet. The endearment completely threw her off guard, and she cursed herself. It was just a pathetic rebel smuggler. The man probably wanted her body more than her love. Which, in a sickeningly good way, was good, because Sith didn't _love_.

She stilled her racing heart, reaching out to the Dark for guidance. Almost immediately, it whispered instructions.

Quickly, she turned. If she could guide the ship out of the creature, she could "surrender" and return to her father.

Easily, she slipped into the cockpit and allowed the Force to guide her hand to the correct lever. With a decidedly evil grin, she went to pull the button that would seal them out -

And then the ship seemed to lurch to the side. She barely missed the golden droid as he fell out of the cockpit.

It didn't take her long to realise what had happened.

Solo had shot the blasted creature. On the inside. And it was mad. Very mad.

Solo appeared out of nowhere. He froze when he saw her hand on the control panel. Leia herself stiffened. His eyes darted from her hand to her face, and back again.

"Leia..." he whispered. He slowly reached over and grasped her hand.

Her vision clouded at the contact. Everything but Solo and her own body was simply gone. She struggled to focus. He was holding her hand, for Force's sake, and she was going completely scatterbrained.

She was thrown into the copilot's seat as the ship lurched again. Her mind snapped back into focus.

"Get us out of here!" she commanded. She would wait to yell at him later.

For once, Solo obeyed. They flew up and out of the cave -- Solo turned the ship so that they could see their hiding place.

"We were inside a _slug_," she stated in utter disbelief. "What is a slug doing in space? In an asteroid field of all places? What could it possibly eat?"

And then Solo flipped the ship. Something had jarred it.

"The empire," Solo muttered. "What are we going to do about them, Princess?"

Leia resisted smirking. Even the great Han Solo wasn't immune to three star destroyers. "Let's surrender," she said, very, very quietly, as a joke.

He shot her a desperate look. Apparently he had heard, and he hadn't thought it funny.

Quickly, he guided his ship around the tip of the two other destroyers. The TIE fighters were gone, but the Star Destroyers had turrets and blasters and lasers coming from everywhere.

The Walking Carpet growled something. She jumped out of her seat in surprise; Chewbacca had the gall to take the seat back. She narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," Solo muttered, in response to Chewbacca's growl. A tiny twinge of desperation filled his voice now. Then he actually laughed. "Yeah!" he exclaimed.

He guided his ship directly at one of the Destroyers - the _Inflictor_, if she remembered correctly.

"What are you doing?" she half-yelped. And then he stopped. And then he landed _on_ the Star Destroyer. She instantly recognised their location. They were perched atop the scopes of the ship.

A grudging admiration filled her. Of course the scopes wouldn't read themselves. It was the single blind spot of a Star Destroyer.

"If they follow standard imperial protocol, they'll dump their garbage before they make the jump to lightspeed..." Solo trailed off. Leia finished the sentence for him, silently. _And then we can float away with the rest of the garbage. Brilliant, of course. _

Sure enough, there was a moaning beneath them. Solo quickly lifted his ship off of the _Inflictor_, seconds before all three of the Imperial ships disappeared with a flash of light.

Leia lifted an eyebrow. "You have your uses, Captain."

He ignored her. Instead he turned to the nav computer, searching for nearby systems.

She asked, "Anything?"

Solo leaned back, suddenly sending a tremor through the Force. "Lando."

"The Lando System?" she clarified. She had never heard of that system before, and she had had the best education that a person could have.

"No, no," he answered, "Lando's a person, a friend of mine. We go way back, Lando and me." He gripped his chin thoughtfully. Chewbacca added a few barks, but he waved them back.

She reached into the Force. The Dark strongly advised going.

"Let's go," she said lightly. "The sooner we're out of this ship the better."

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the long gap, guys. My computer was being rather pathetic... lousy excuse, I know, but still. I'll update soon.


	14. Discussions

LEIA sank onto the cot in her temporary quarters. Three weeks. She was stuck with nothing but an arrogant smuggler, a wookie, and a fussy, golden droid for three weeks.

She considered reaching through the Force and calling her father back to them, just to end the torture. But she couldn't explain why she would willingly walk onto a star destroyer. And how could a star destroyer catch them without killing them?

She heaved a sigh. It wasn't just Solo's inability to fix things that was leaving them hanging in space. It was the ship. Only an hour before, she'd slipped into the hold and tried to repair the hyperdrive herself. She could leave it to Solo to connect the final wire, so as not to arouse suspicions.

But the hyperdrive had practically been a puddle at her feet. She couldn't even fathom trying to piece it together. Even the Force was completely confused.

Beside feeling completely helpless and useless, the fact that she was supposed to be playing a _princess_ did not help. Why in the galaxy would a princess know what a negative power coupling was? Why would she know how to fix the hyperdrive? She had to let the men do the job while she sat around and waited.

Her father might not have a problem with letting underlings do the job, but she, on the other hand...

A drumming sound jerked her from her thoughts.

Solo.

"What is it, Han?" she snapped. She almost slipped up, _again_. She wanted to call him Solo... maybe as a reminder of what he always would be.

He shrugged casually as he entered her cramped quarters. "I dunno. Maybe I want your opinion on the hyperdrive."

Before he'd entered, she had turned away from him, looking at the wall. She still sat on the mattress, but when he so casually voiced his "want," she rose, spun, and said stupidly, "What?"

Solo looked at her, a half smile on his arrogant features.

"Your opinion. On the hyperdrive," he said slowly, as if he was speaking to a small child.

"And why do you want my opinion? I do not know anything about ships. Unless you want me to go and argue with it. I'm sure that'll do a lot." Her tone couldn't have been more caustic; he winced and actually took a step back.

"Look, sweetheart, I-"

"I am _not_ your sweetheart, for the last time!"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Are you anybody else's sweetheart then?"

"God, Han, _no_!"

Her ire had come out of nowhere. Still, after three years with this insufferable man, she needed the venting time.

She prepared to emotionally scar him, but he spoke first.

"Is that because Sith don't love?"

She stopped. _"What?" _

He moved past her and lay down on her cot, propping himself up against the pillow. "I said, are you single because Sith don't love?"

Leia's world froze. Her mind, however, was burning up. _How could he know? How was it possible? What do I say?_

Struggling, she replied in a calm, level voice, "What would Sith and loving have to do with me, Solo?"

He held up a hand and started counting off fingers. "One: you're a princess and supposed to fall in love. Two: you never, ever call me Solo. Three: you are a Sith. I heard you talking to..."

"To whom?" she snapped. "Answer me!" There was no chance he had heard her with her master. No chance at all. That one conversation... he hadn't even been in "costume." He couldn't possibly have drawn the conclusion that she was speaking to Vader!

He swallowed.

She opened herself to the Force. A frantic array of emotions flew at her. Fear, shock, resignation, misery, disappointment... All his.

"To Vader."

The two words brought her scheme crashing down onto her shoulders. She didn't even try to deny it. She gestured with a hand; the door swooshed closed.

Solo jumped.

She reached for her lightsaber. It flew readily to her hand, and in one, smooth motion she ignited it. Calmly, she pointed it at his throat.

"You've watched the Jedi scum practise with this, Solo. You know what it can do. Tell me what you heard."

He edged away from the tip of the crimson blade.

"You talked about stuff. Our location in relation to the star destroyers. Skinning me alive. The old man. Luke." He locked eyes with her. "If you hate the Jedi so much, why'd you make out with him?"

She recoiled. That mocking question topped all his other statements.

"Do _not_ remind me. That was so _disgust_-" She paused. "I have better things to do than listen to you. You're just getting in the way. I'm sorry." She smiled innocently as she drenched herself in the Dark.

A refreshing wave of his terror swept through the Force.

She shifted her hand around her lightsaber.

"Wait!" Solo said quickly.

Exasperated, she made no intention of stopping.

"What are you going to tell the Alliance High Command? What about Chewie?"

"I think I can deal with 'Leia Organa' suddenly dying in a fateful collision with a super nova. And you don't think I can handle one wookie and a fussy droid?" she asked coldly.

"Who'll fly the ship? It takes two people."

"I have the Force."

"The Force can't shoot enemy fighters, sweetheart, or land at Bespin."

She threw the lightsaber past his head and let it impale the wall. He gasped in astonishment and disbelief. Sparks flew across the panel.

"Most unmanly, Han," she half-snarled.

The lights flickered out above them, her lightsaber providing the only source of light.

"I'll get that later," Leia said after a moment. "It, uh, only hit the stuff for this room. Nothing important."

He turned to look at the blade humming an inch from his head, then at her.

She called it back to her, repointing at him.

"You will fly me to Bespin, and then you can go. Tell the High Command that I ended up dead somehow, or captured by Vader." A cynical smirk lit her face.

"Got it?"

Solo stared at the crimson blade, then at her.

"Y-Yeah, sure thing," he mumbled.

"Excellent," she purred. "And... nobody needs to know about this, do they?"

And she deactivated her lightsaber and stalked from her room.


	15. The Kiss!

It was moments like this that made her want to crawl into a hole and wither away. Her master was going to punish her severely for this foolishness. The punishment would not be physical, but he would grind her to the ground and force her to remember who was the master, and who the apprentice was. If she didn't say the right things, it might get painful.

Unless... unless she willingly handed the man over to her master. He knew that she was with a smuggler and his "crew." The very smuggler that happened to be the one who stopped the infamous Dark Lord from destroying the Jedi at the Battle of Yavin. She would be well rewarded for his capture. Unless he made her kill him...

She still wanted to wither away.

Sighing, she put her feet on the steering mechanism. Leia debated steering with her feet for a while, then decided against it. She currently sat in the cockpit, taking her 4-hour shift. It was a 4 hour on, eight hour off rotation. Solo's entrance marked the end of his shift.

Solo... She sighed. The right thing to do was to kill him. Simple, easy. With a lightsaber, it wasn't exactly messy. She rose. She had to kill him. He was distracting her. Distractions were not good. Besides, she could fly the ship with Chewbacca.

And she turned -- and he was there. In the door. Inches away. She could feel the heat from his body. Through the Force, she could feel an odd, unfelt emotion tumbling through her. And him.

All of this happened in less than a second. She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes.

"What, Solo?" she asked, her voice dripping in venom. He crossed his arms.

"Are you killing me when we get to Bespin?"

For a moment she couldn't hide her shock. How could he put it so bluntly? Her shock forced her into answering. "I don't know what my master will want me to do with you."

Then she silently swore. She was not supposed to tell him that. It was a blatant lie, as she was just about to kill him, and she wasn't permitted to discuss deaths with her victims. Why hadn't she just chopped his head off and gotten it over with?

She didn't miss the wounded expression on his face, followed and then masked by fear.

"Wait- your master? Vader will kill... I don't..." He trailed off pathetically. His eyes closed. He seemed to be pondering something.

Then his eyes snapped open. "How long?"

"Have I been an imperial? Oh, since the Death Star."

"Since Alderaan?"

Her hand came up, and before she knew it, she had slapped him. She silently swore again, trying to regain control. What was it about this man that made her emotions spin?

"Yes," she answered icily. She realised she had risen to slap him, and she sat.

He plopped down in the seat next to hers. She glared. He ignored.

"It's odd that you would be for the empire, if they destroyed your planet without remorse," Solo said softly.

"Trying to turn me from the Empire, smuggler?" she snapped. "I don't have to listen to you. I'm better than that. And I'm not working for the Empire anyway!"

She froze, her eyes widening. She couldn't hide her shock or horror. How could she let that slip? Maybe he would miss it-- of course, there was no such luck.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. "You work with Vader! He's second-in-command of the...empire." He trailed off. Leia stared at him. No, he couldn't have made _that _conclusion.

"And he wants to be in charge, with someone at his side..." Solo finished moments later.

Leia gripped the edges of the seat so tightly that her hands began to ache. She realised that one of her hands had already been aching from coming into contact with his face.

"... and so you are his apprentice. And his heir. Gods, Your Highnessness. Aren't you in-"

"Would you stop calling me that?" she asked. She winced inwardly. It had been such a pathetic sounding question. It didn't tell him to back off. And so he ventured forward.

"Sure, Leia."

No! No! _No!_ She did not like the way this was going. He needed to know that soon he was going to be killed. That he was addressing the soon-to-be princess of the galaxy. Leia needed to tell him to back off, to cut the attitude. To bow to her. She gathered herself to speak.

"You have to make it so difficult sometimes."

What?!?! What kind of retort was that? she demanded of herself furiously. While she scrambled for a snappier retort, he answered, "I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. C'mon, admit it: sometimes you think I'm alright."

Her hand ached. She started massaging it slowly. "Occasionally, maybe. When you aren't acting like a scoundrel." She translated it in her head: Yes, maybe, when you keep your mouth shut and you pretend not to be an idiot.

"A scoundrel?" he repeated, an odd spark in his eye. He reached over and clutched her sore hand. Gently, he began to massage it, but with the ease of long practice. "I like the sound of that."

"Stop that. My hands are clean. I don't want your filth-"

"My hands are clean, too. What are you afraid of?"

_Afraid?! _She was not afraid of some idiotic rebel smuggler that was getting her hands dirty. She attempted to voice as such, but failed miserably.

"Afraid?"

Solo smirked. "You're trembling."

I am not! "I'm not trembling," she said, breathlessly.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your high collar life."

She couldn't even register the insult. He was looming closer. Realising what he wanted, she shook her head. "I happen to like nice men."

"I'm a nice man, Your Highnessness."

"No you're not, you're-"

He silenced her by pressing his lips to hers.

Her senses reeled. Force, what was he doing to her? She _liked_ it. Her hand slid up of its own accord, winding into his hair--

"Sir! Sir! I've isolated the reverse power coupling!"

Gods, that _droid_! They broke apart.

"Thank you. Thank you very much," Han bit out.

Leia didn't bother listening the droid's response. She ran.

What had she done?


	16. The Wall

AN: Guys, I am soooo sorry that I haven't updated. My computed had a complete meltdown. It was very odd, considering it was a mac, but it happened nonetheless. So, enjoy this. I'll try to update by Sunday.  


* * *

Leia needed to destroy something. The urge to kill and destroy was absolutely absurd. The reasonable thing to do would to be to kill the rebels aboard the ship. That would satiate her thirst for blood.

But _no_, she had been foolish enough to kiss the one she was supposed to be killing. Now, her emotions were all out of balance, she couldn't find her center, and thus she couldn't get a clear grip on the Force, and so it was sending her mixed messages.

And so that lead back to the source of her problems: the urge to kill something.

She rose from her temporary cot and stared at the wall. Why did she throw her lightsaber into her wall? Why couldn't she have damaged _his_ wall? Maybe he would fall in the dark and crack his head open. It would save her the time and the energy.

Not that she didn't have time to burn. She glanced at her wrist chrono, and noted that they still had a few days until they reached Bespin. Sighing, she realised that for him to die via cracking his head open, there would be a _lot_ of blood. She allowed a tiny smirk to grace her features. There would be a lot of blood. Something had to have gotten his head and ego so large. An abnormally large flood of blood to the brain… she wondered if it was causing more than ego issues.

Then she remembered that blood stained things._ Everything. _She was wearing a white snow suit. Though she didn't mind personally, she didn't want her father to be greeted with the sight of her clothed in scarlet.

And _then _she realised that she didn't have anywhere to stick the bodies. With a sigh, she officially stopped fantasizing.

She bend down and picked up a tool, stripping that section of the wall of its covering. She began fiddling with the wall, noticing that her lightsaber had managed to slice through the most important wires for her little quarters. Lighting wasn't a problem, but heat was. She hated the cold, ironically.

She gripped the two closest wires. All they were was metal fused together. She could use force lightning to correct the damage. Instinctively, she reached for the Force… and missed.

She swore aloud. There were few things that could make her lose contact to the Force entirely. One thing, actually, and that was her father, her master. Now the complication with Solo brought it to two things.

Berating herself for her lack of focus, she reached for the welder.

She managed to lose herself in her work, and she could feel the Force trickling back to her. Relief flooded through her.

And then she realised that the Force wasn't doing the only trickling. Sweat was running down her arms and face. She hissed under her breath, then started pulling away the heavily padded snowsuit, letting the top hang by her hips. A camisole was the only thing covering her upper body. Much better.

She resumed working.

A while later, she grew weary. She set down the tool, reaching for some particularly annoying wire. Her elbow knocked the tool to the ground with a loud, metallic clatter.

Muttering under her breath, Leia reached for the tool, bending down to get it.

A muscular hand that obviously wasn't hers offered it to her.

She snapped her gaze up to meet Solo's face. He, for once, wasn't staring directly at her face, but down slightly – just to where the cami revealed the slightest bit of cleavage.

"What, Solo?" she snapped, hoping the rush of heat on her face wasn't that obvious. She yanked the tool from his hands.

He shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "Dunno. Figured that since I'm gonna die on Bespin, why not take a chance with you?"

She was literally speechless. Then she mentally kicked herself, and she retorted poisonously, "Take a chance with me, Solo, and I will personally see it that you are tortured within an inch of your life."

He stared in astonishment – and then smiled. It was that arrogant, cocky, _idiotic_ smile that she loved so much. Then she caught herself. She only loved that it gave her an excuse to kill him or provoke him. The smile itself was just as stupid as the man.

"I could have sworn you liked that kiss, Your Sithiness."

She gaped. "What! You bloody _rebel_! Why in the nine hells would I want a kiss from _you_! I am royalty, you bast-"

He grabbed her, pinned her to the wall. Utterly unprepared, she froze. He took the opportunity to kiss her. Her senses began to tingle – she shoved his chest with all her might, frightened by the emotions he was stirring.

Han staggered backwards, surprised again. He was breathing heavily, and so was she.

She clutched the wall for support. She tried, in vain, to forget the feel of his sculpted muscles through his shirt. How they would feel if –

Her head snapped up, and he was watching her again.

"Royalty, you bastard," she gasped out, finishing her sentence from before the kiss. "You-I can't…" She prepared to stalk away, to return to her chambers, but they were in her chambers. There was nowhere to run.

"Get out," she choked.

He shook his head, slowly. A flicker of a foreign emotion began to come alive within her. Fear. If he tried _anything_, she was helpless without the Force. He was stronger, taller, and bigger.

But wait – she had her lightsaber. She was faster than he was. That was well known… She reached down. But her snowsuit was around her waist. She had to pull it up to get the weapon. Undoubtedly, he would know what she was doing.

Then he lurched to his feet. "Leia– wait. I'm sorry."

Uncomprehending, she stared at him.

And then her comlink went off. She glanced at the ID. Her master.

**Vader**

Darth Vader pulled himself out of meditation slowly. Something inside him felt a grudging respect for the smuggler's flying capabilities. And his intelligence. He himself hadn't realised what had happened with the blind spots until they were in hyperspace.

At least the Force had been helpful. It had ordered him to go to Bespin, to the city in the clouds.

Was Leia going there? He had tried to contact her via the Force, but found that she was increasingly difficult to find. Her Force-sense was completely scrambled. He suspected that she didn't even have a grip on the Force by now.

He retreated into the other room, sinking into a chair. Then he pulled out a comlink and dialed her number.


	17. Plans

AN: Darth Real Life has taken a toll, but it has a new name: Pride and Prejudice. Wonderfully written book, great story... but annotating and doing five zillion literary analysis papers are not the greatest. Again, yet again, I'm sorry for the delay. Many thanks to the loyal reviewers and the newer reviewers. Comments are appreciated.  


* * *

**Vader** waited impatiently. How long did it take for her to – finally.

"Master?"

He blinked. Her voice was absurdly quiet, timid even. It lacked the fire he was used to. Hmm.

"Leia," he said in response. He then launched right into discussion, not bothering to perform the standard greetings and such. In his opinion, formalities – at least when it came to greetings – were overrated.

He demanded, "Where are you going?"

"Um. Bespin. Our ETA is a few hours. Han said he had a friend there, so we're –"

"Han? Who is Han?" he grumbled, unable to keep up.

"The smuggler. Han Solo. He–"

"Han Solo? Didn't his ship make the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs?" he asked, with something akin to admiration and surprise.

Sounding as though she was restraining herself from saying something, Leia answered, "Yes, Master."

Vader pondered, pleased. What did she want to say? At least she had refrained from saying something that probably deserved punishment.

"Excellent. I must meet him. He must have done something to the engines–"

His daughter made an exasperated sound, unable to help it. He froze in surprise and anger at the lack of respect. He prepared to heavily rebuke his apprentice, but then he stopped when he heard something...

"Han! Give me that!"

There was a dramatic, undignified sounding scuffle.

Vader stared at the comlink in astonishment and anger at the absolutely immature action and sounds. Leia had been raised better than that. If someone was threatening her over something, no matter how trivial, she should teach them that they were scum. Never was she to let them bowl her over. Death was a perfectly acceptable alternative for the someone. But –

Someone yelped and launched into a flurry of swears, and then Leia said innocently, "The smuggler has made many modifications to his flying hunk of junk. Most of them illegal."

She sounded like she was ready to kill something. He instantly realised it must be the smuggler. He was listening.

Vader's "good" mood increased even more. Leia obviously still submitted to his will; she did want to kill Solo, but she knew he was a little interested in him, so she restrained herself. She wasn't going soft.

"I can give him a _talk_ about that once you reach Bespin," he announced.

"Yes, Master."

He paused, analyzing her response. "You sound most content with my decision."

"This smuggler is an idiot. I want to get rid of him before he makes me do something stupid."

He narrowed his eyes, detecting the obvious tension in her tone. Something else had already happened. Uneasiness tore through him. He said nothing, however, and ordered, "Transmit your security codes when you reach Bespin. Air Control will take you to a landing platform. I'll have someone take you to me."

He signed off when she murmured her agreement.

He resumed meditating. Something was going on between the two. But what?

**Leia**

"Well," the smuggler drawled, "looks like you're stuck with me. Darth Daddy wants to have a little get together. He knows who I am."

Obviously his apology from before the call was forgotten.

Leia spun without thinking and almost literally snarled in his face. "Speak in such a tone about my father again and I will kill you."

He blinked.

But she wasn't done. "His interest in you will only last so long._ Then _I will kill you. But when we reach Bespin, you will address my father as 'my lord.' Anything else and you might get hacked in half."

Her ranting done, she suddenly sat upon the bed, a cruel smile gracing her lips. "I do suppose this'll be interesting. My master generally hates speaking with the scum of the galaxy."

Han looked offended. "Hey, now, Your Highnessness, only bounty hunters are the scum of the galaxy. Everyone else is like leaf litter."

"Precisely," a smug sounding Sith Lady replied coolly. "Leaf _litter_. Pointlessly there, polluting and covering the galaxy with the depth of its filth."

He swore under his breath (he _had _walked right into that one) and tried to find a way to counter her blow.

"Yeah, sweetheart. But you higher-ups can't live without us. Ya always gotta be on top to function normally."

Leia opened her mouth to retort, then closed it, unsure if there was an innuendo in his surprisingly semi-intelligent statement. She opened her mouth again, regaining her footing. She pointed at the door and barked, "Get out."

He looked down, the fact that he was amused painfully obvious. Then he turned, leaning against the doorframe.

She slowly pulled the snowsuit back into place, searching for her lightsaber.

The day had been abnormally confusing. First she hated his guts, then he kissed her. Then she hated him again after admitting he knew her secret. And then he kissed her again. A pattern was beginning to emerge. She was hating his guts again – when would he kiss her next?

Never, she decided. In her pocket, she stroked the hilt of her lightsaber tenderly.

He spoke first. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart, not until my questions are answered."

She controlled her fury and choked out icily, "Your questions?"

"Yeah. What's happening to me when I get to Bespin?"

She answered, "You meet my master. You talk. And then I kill you."

"I'm not saying a word unless Chewie gets to go free," he answered flatly, not addressing her last sentence.

Leia stared at his defiant hazel eyes, tightening her grip on her lightsaber. She couldn't use it, but its weight was still reassuring.

"You would want to save your pet," she breathed, "but the Empire will not supply him with a ship, even if he did survive past you."

The thought brought an unfamiliar pang to her chest. It might have been familiar several years ago, but now...

She studied the shocked and resigned expression on his face. Killing him would be boring. He had accepted his fate.


	18. Landing on Bespin

Leia hated being touched. _Hated_ it. As far as she was concerned, her father was the only one able to touch her when her guard was semi-down.

Sleeping was one of those incidents where her guard was semi-down. And someone was shaking her awake. But what really alarmed her was that the hand was on her completely bare shoulder. Without thinking, she punched upwards, to where she thought the hand's owner was.

She was rewarded with the familiar feeling of fist and flesh connection, and a groaned, muffled curse. She smiled into her pillow. And then she froze. Something was trickling down her wrist.

She swore under her breath, wrenching her eyes open. Had she broken his nose?

No. She'd punched him in the mouth. It was bleeding. Nothing that required attention or mopping up. She burrowed her face into the pillow again.

"Good morning to you too, Princess," Han snapped, wiping away the blood that was curling around his chin.

"I don't see what's so good about it. You got your filthy, smuggler scum's blood on my hand."

She could imagine the furious look on his face as he retorted, "Gee, Your Sithiness, I'm sorry my mouth got in the way of your fist. Won't happen again."

"Good," she muttered.

There was a pause, the sound of all the engines and machinery the only sound to reach her ears. She opened one eye, moving her head oh-so-slightly so that she could see.

Yes, he was still there. With a huff, she rolled onto her back.

"What do you want?"

He shrugged. "We're arriving at Bespin in about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes! Solo, you _idiot_! I need more time than that to prepare! I can't meet my father looking like I just jumped out of bed!"

He shrugged again. "I could help. It'd go faster."

"Get out!" she yelled.

For once, he listened. But she still saw the smirk on his face.

***

Ten minutes later, she sauntered into the cockpit. Cloud city was dead ahead.

It was beautiful, she supposed. But everything was white. _Everything_. And that did not exactly help Darkness thrive.

"So, sweetheart, what's the plan?"

She managed to hide her surprise. Somehow she'd managed to overlook Chewbacca and Han.

"Um. I don't really know..." she said lamely. She didn't know if he had told Chewbacca about her, and she wasn't about to spill her most heavily guarded secret. "You said that we'd meet your friend."

He made no effort to counter the statement. So he hadn't told Chewbacca. That was good.

An awkward silence filled the cockpit.

"Is your friend pro-empire?" she asked after a moment.

Han smirked. "You should know me better than than, Your Worship. He's a card player, a scoundrel." He tilted his head to the side, his smirk widening. "You'll like him."

_Ah, but with luck, I won't have to meet him but for a few minutes_, she thought. Aloud she said, "I'm sure."

Chewbacca roared mournfully. Han glared at him. "Go away, Chewie. You aren't helping me right now!" he grumbled, but without much real anger. Chewie gave his barking laugh.

"What did he say?" Leia demanded.

Han shook his head. "Nothing! Nothing you want to know."

She stared at him, then reverted her gaze to the white, sparkling city.

"Chewie, can you check and see what needs to be fixed on the hyperdrive? I don't want Lando's people tearing it completely apart. Our modifications would be a pain to redo."

The wookie stood, groaned an affirmative, and left the cockpit.

Leia sat down in Chewie's oversized seat, staring at Han. Glaring, really.

He noticed. "Ah, hi."

"Hi? I cannot believe that you walked in on me while I was _sleeping_! And that you gave me ten minutes to prepare!" she hissed.

He laughed, but silenced himself quickly. "Yeah? It wasn't like you weren't wearing anything under the cov-"

He caught sight of her darkening, furious expression and realised his mistake. "Oh. _Oh. _Well, sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Yes, you did. Don't even try these false apologies on me, Solo."

"I thought you said you couldn't touch that magical Force of yours."

She sneered. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you don't think with your brain, Solo."

He looked unusually stung by her insult. "I missed the 'don't wake a Sith while she's sleeping' lecture, sweetheart."

She still glared.

He ran a hand through his hair. "You look so peaceful and beautiful while you sleep, Princess. I was going to give you more time, but I was watching you sleep."

Something inside of her weakened. It had been such a long time since she had been treated with such kindness. Her father was understanding as far as Sith went, and she felt that she could trust him.

But others, rebels and imperials alike, looked at her fearfully. They were slow to enter her presence and quick to leave.

So, in whole-hearted honesty, she didn't know how to react to his uncharacteristic display. So she responded the only way she knew how to. Spitefully. Hatefully.

"Yes. And I'm sure you had your fantasies, didn't you?"

He reached over and clutched her hand.

Instantly, she tried to yank it back, but he overpowered her.

He extended his other hand slowly, till he cupped her cheek in his hand.

She inhaled sharply, trying to stop trembling. There was no training for moments like these. Her father wanted this man alive. She wanted him... dead?

But she couldn't get him away from her. Surely she could stop his advances. And -

He started moving his thumb in a slow circle. An odd sensation filled her. She felt ... bubbly. A very, very tiny smile managed to crack through her façade.

And then Air Control for Bespin decided to intervene at that moment, demanding a security code.

Reality crashed around her shoulders once more. She slapped his hand away, and hastily transmitted her code.

Access confirmed. Two ships appeared out of nowhere, guiding the _Falcon_ to the landing platform.

"Follow them," Leia instructed.

Han obeyed wordlessly.

The princess turned and left the cockpit, glancing back twice towards Han as she left.

Soon, she would see her master, and he would tell her how to settle this mess.


	19. Meeting Lando

AN: I'm sorry I didn't update, _again_. But hey, this time I have an excuse. I was in Guatemala, doing eye tests on the people there. We (I went with a couple other doctors and some of their kids) saw over two thousand patients. So, without further adieu, the next chapter!

* * *

Leia waited for the hatch to hit the ground, avoiding Han Solo's eyes at all costs. A gentle thud and a quivering marked that the hatch had done its job.

Han didn't wait; he went forward first. Chewbacca followed next, of course.

The droids went after. Leia looked at them in mild surprise. She had honestly almost forgotten about their presence. When Threepio began to talk in his shrill voice to Artoo, she didn't understand how she had managed such a feat.

She went last, hovering by the ship's side. Since her connection to The Force had been muddled, she couldn't perceive things as well as she used to. Again, she cursed this man for causing her conflicting emotions. Her lack of concentration seemed to be getting worse since the incident a whole five minutes ago.

A door slid open, and she tensed, her hand gracefully falling to her hip. Her lightsaber should have been there, but now it was inside a pocket. She ignored this slight mishappening and watched the door.

A man, dark-skinned and well dressed, appeared in the doorway. His entourage consisted of a man with a Borg Aj^6, a cyborg that allowed a human to connect mentally to computer when donned. Several security officers trailed the two of them. The dark skinned man paused, saying something in hushed, anxious tones to the only non-security looking member of his team.

The man glanced in their direction, his gaze falling on her last. He swallowed visibly, then turned back to his companion. The other man nodded and vanished, the security guards with him. Finally, the remaining human crossed the platform to Han.

Han cautiously walked forward as well. Leia noted with irritation that his hand had fallen to his holster. If the man was scared to even look at her, then undoubtedly her master had told him something...

And then Leia remembered that the man had a name. Lando. That was, assuming that this was Han's old friend. But --

"Why you double-crossing, no good swindler," the man said coldly.

Leia's lips twitched into a small smile. Yes, this was Han's "friend." She watched Han pull a "who, me?" gesture.

Lando would have none of it. "You've got a lot of guts coming back here after what you pulled."

By now they were only a few feet away. Han was bracing himself for a fight, but Leia knew nothing would happen. Not after Lando had dismissed his security.

And then Lando grabbed Han and pulled him into a bear hug. Han jumped, but eventually returned the brief hug.

"So what are you doing here, you pirate?" Lando asked amiably.

Han shrugged innocently. "Repairs." He gestured to the _Falcon_.

Lando shot a fleeting look to the ship - or was it to her? "What have you done- to my ship?" he demanded.

Leia began to venture forward. His prepositional phrase at the end of his last sentence was added belatedly, as an after thought. Vader had obviously given him instructions not to let anyone lay a finger on her.

Han, though, paid no such attention. "_Your_ ship? Hey, remember, she's _mine_. I won her fair and square."

Lando ignored him, looking back at Chewie. "Hello there, Chewbacca. You still hanging around this loser?"

Chewbacca growled what sounded suspiciously like an affirmative.

Leia reached Han's side at this point. He brushed her hip with a hand, and she flashed him a poisonous glare. He shrugged, trying to keep the movement down to a minimum.

"What have we here?" Lando asked, his voice rather strained. He reached up and rubbed his throat slowly, making no movement to come forward. Han looked slightly confused.

"Leia," Leia said simply. She wondered briefly if her father had actually started to strangle the man, or if Lando was just hoping that the fate wouldn't come to him.

Hmm.

"Well, then welcome, Leia. I'm Lando Calrissian, the administrator of this facility."

"Hi" was her response. She found herself sidling closer to Han.

There was an awkward pause. And then Han decided to break it.

"Is this about Vader?"

Leia glanced at him, then at Lando, curious. The man stared at Han awkwardly, a hand coming up to run through his hair. "Ah... yes."

The former princess and senator sighed in relief. "Wonderful. What does he want?"

Lando opened his mouth to reply, but never managed to. Chewbacca gave a massive, furious howl and lunged for the Baron Administrator.

"NO!" Han yelled. "Chewie, stop! Stop it!"

Chewie, who had Lando in a strangling grasp, looked up. Meanwhile, Lando managed to gasp in air.

"Let him go, Chewie!" Leia snapped, seriously angry now. Chewbacca roared furiously again and resumed strangling the man.

She sighed and watched with irritation. Soon the man would be dead and they could go to her father. Wait... Her gaze flickered to the man. His face was a lovely shade of blue. Well, he was currently a figurehead. If he ended up dead, her father would have to find another one. And he hated doing that... and so he'd blame her...

Leia grabbed Han. "My master is going to kill him if Lando ends up dead. I can't stop that!"

That was enough motivation for Han. He grabbed Chewie's shoulder. When pulling hand no effect, he pounded on the wookie's arm.

Lando Calrissian dropped to the metal ground, his chest heaving desperately as he coughed and fought for precious oxygen. Chewbacca grunted and growled in what sounded like dark tones to Leia's untrained ear.

A particularly loud cough caught her attention. She spun, redirecting her attention to Lando, who she had forgotten.

She calmly walked to him, no urgency in her step. She didn't see the point. He wasn't going to die.

She knelt by his side. His eyes widened, and he shook his head, mouthing, "I'm fine!" She lifted a brow.

"No, you're not," she said dryly. "I would have come faster, but surely you understand me when I say that I'm not used to seeing strangling victims live for that long. He must have dragged it out. Consider yourself lucky."

He stared at her in astonishment. She shrugged.

The howling and hooting from Chewbacca stopped. Leia offered Lando a hand. He ignored it, pulling himself unsteadily to his feet.

"Show me to Lord Vader," Leia ordered. Chewbacca roared again.

Han muttered something. Leia glanced at him, then at Chewie. "Is he going to be calm?"

Han glanced at Chewie. "Yeah."

Lando proceded to guide them, albeit slowly, to the Dark Lord of the Sith.

They passed through the white halls, people avoiding them like the plague. They ascended a set of old fashioned stairs.

Lando paused at the top, the white door seemingly innocent. He reached out, hand trembling, to enter the code, but the door slid open before he entered the first number.

A young man with wavy blonde hair and a dark robe answered the door, yellow eyes flashing warily over the group, and lastly settling on the princess.


	20. Futura

**AN: **Okay, this chapter is not the most interesting of chapters. And it's kinda scatterbrained. I'll tell you that right now. All the action should be in the next chapter.

Sorry about the Vader/Luke confusion...

* * *

Leia felt Han stiffen by her side.

"Luke?" he murmured under his breath. "I don't understand."

Leia elbowed him harshly in the side. "Not Luke," she muttered back. "Look again, idiot."

He did, but his expression never changed.

Vader spoke. "Thank you, Calrissian. You may leave. Take the wookie with you."

Han instantly protested.

Vader silenced him with a casual wave on his gloved hand, and proceeded to slam the door in the wookie and Lando's face.

He turned, cloak swishing, to the rest of the room. It was all white, like everything else in Cloud City, with couches and tables and fountains scattered about.

Leia grabbed Han's sleeve and pulled him after her father.

Vader gestured to a sofa, and Leia shoved him down.

Vader promptly released Han, and the smuggler promptly leapt up. "What are you doing with Chewie? Who are you? Where's Vader?"

Leia widened her eyes. Her master didn't like this, not one bit.

"Han, for once in your life, would you shut up and _listen_?" she hissed.

The Sith Lord sighed. "I suggest you follow my daughter's recommendations, Captain Solo, unless you wish to end up without a head."

Han looked as though he'd been slapped in the face for a split instant before his sabacc face took over.

Leia muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "He's not worthy of a lightsaber beheading. Use a butter knife."

Han swallowed visibly. But he still pressed on. "Chewie. Where are you taking him?"

Vader's hands clasped behind his back. "The wookie is currently being held in a cell. No harm has come to him."

"But what about-"

Leia saw her master's fingers flex. Han's hand flew to his throat. "Master," she said softly, trying not to let the gut wrenching worry worm its way into her voice. "He is a valuable member of the Alliance." And then she added, "Many people would come looking for him. Powerful people."

Han was released from his chokehold. He gasped in air, coughing and spluttering.

Vader paid him no attention. He focused on Leia. "The Jedi?"

She nodded, sparing a glance at Han. He'd be fine. She'd seen much worse.

"Younger or older?"

"Just Luke, I think. Kenobi might come as a backup. But he is not as close to Solo as Luke is."

Han managed to rasp, "What do they have to do with this?"

He was ignored. Vader hissed, "My primary focus is on Kenobi, not the boy."

"But he'll come for Luke."

Silence.

Vader reached for a comlink. "Calrissian, send someone up here to collect your friend. Take him to the wookie." He closed the connection.

He stared at Solo. "So you're the infamous smuggler. What do you think you're doing, trying to catch _my_ daughter? She is a princess. Heir to this empire."

Han glared, beyond caring. "Palpatine still rules this empire."

"Not for long," Leia snapped.

An awkward pause. Then Han shrugged. "Figured I'd take the chance while I could. Your daughter's a good kisser."

The door slid open and two attendants appeared. Solo was dragged out before Vader could utter a word.

So he rounded on Leia. "You _kissed_ him?"

She shrank back, looking at the floor in fear and shame. "He kissed me. It's not the same."

"What else did you do?" he snapped, running a bare hand through his hair.

Leia flushed scarlet. "Master! Nothing like that!" she choked out.

But he was still angry.

She swallowed, noticing the flickering electricity at the tips of his fingers. She had one chance... would it make him angry or would she survive this evening unscathed?

"So the slave can kiss his queen, but the princess can't touch the smuggler?"

He deflated somewhat. But then he had a comeback. "I didn't have a choice. I was born a slave. He chose to smuggle and do illegal drugs! He was raising through the ranks of our navy, apprentice, when he got kicked out."

"But Master, he was saving Chewbacca from slavery. He got kicked out because he was against slavery!"

That made him pause and consider. But he looked thoroughly disgruntled, and so he changed the subject. "You can't feel the Force."

"I haven't been for a while, master," she answered meekly. "I haven't been able to meditate or--"

He waved a hand, and she fell silent. "We'll meditate. Now. I will guide you."

Shakily, she crossed the floor to his side and followed him to another room. It was completely bare and stark white.

They both sank to the ground in the middle of the room.

Tentatively, Leia reached for The Force. As usual, it evaded her by a hairsbreadth.

She grappled for it, and it seemed something came from behind and shoved it. Her master. She suddenly could touch and bend the Force.

Greedily, delightedly, she revelled in the power, the high that the darkness gave her. Her uncertainty towards the two Jedi slipped away. Her grudging admiration for the Alliance was replaced by utter disgust. Her respect and fear of her Master multiplied.

And she heard the Dark side beckon, and she followed without a doubt. And it showed her many images, things she hadn't seen.

_Two X-Wings approaching a city in the clouds. _

_An older Jedi battling her master, cloaks discarded on the ground, red and blue lightsabers flashing. _

_Lando shooting at a familiar brown haired figure -- herself. She spins, stolen blue lightsaber whipping forward to deflect the laser._

_Luke clutching a rail above a steep drop. A blue lightsaber points at his throat. _

Shuddering, she opened her eyes and looked for her father.

"Master!"


	21. Revealing the Truth

**AN: **Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers! This chapter has some action in it, but the next one should be even better. Enjoy!

* * *

Darth Vader and his apprentice returned to the _Executor_ almost immediately.

Vader wanted to give the orders to the admiral in person.

So that was where Leia stood now. The bridge was larger than she remembered. She stared at the dull, unreflective plates of metal on the ground, listening with one ear to her father's vocodor boom orders. Her other ear was focused on the sound of the officers breathe. At least half of them were hyperventilating.

Her head snapped up. Her father had called the admiral pie-something-or-other. Had he killed Ozzel already?

Apparently, he had. Interesting.

She looked back down, fiddling with a loose thread in the inside of a sleeve of her zeyd-cloth robes. She had changed into more fitting, Sith-like robes, tunic, and pants upon arrival. A lightsaber dangled at her belt.

"Leia," her master rumbled.

Her legs moved before she even thought about the action. She walked to his side, bowing slightly. The eyes of the officers followed her every movement. She ignored them.

"Leia, this is Admiral Piett. Piett, my apprentice," Vader said, no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

Piett looked at her in surprise, but the emotion was quickly concealed behind a professionally blank mask. He reached out and lightly pulled her hand to him, placing a very brief kiss on it before letting it drop. "It is an honor, my lady," he said, eyes darting between the two of them.

Leia was going to make a witty retort, but quickly decided otherwise, as her father prodded her with the Force. She simply answered, "Indeed, Admiral."

Vader quickly began to explain his plan. "There are two Jedi coming to Bespin. We must take this city into Imperial control. Piett, you and my apprentice will go down to Baron Calrissian. Gain control of the city. I will be here, discussing this incident with the emperor. I will be down when I am done. Now get out of my sight."

Piett quickly made way for the hangar, but Leia snapped, "We'll be taking mine. It's in the same hangar as my master's ship."

The admiral scurried. Leia gave a small smile of amusement before turning to her master. "Do you need anything in writing, Master? Or should we just assume control and inform the Baron it is temporary?"

"The latter. The Jedi will sense if there is deception in the Force, and if there is nothing technical it will be harder to sense. Wait for me there when you are done. Piett can come back. There is another shuttle down there."

She nodded and bowed.

***

She landed the ship in the same spot her master's ship had been an hour or so before. She cut the engines before she hit the landing pad, allowing herself an amused smile as the ship hit the ground with a thud.

Piett swallowed hard.

"I don't know why my master is having you come with me, as I am perfectly capable of doing this myself. Just stay out of my way, and you won't be gasping for breath in your last moments of life," Leia said acerbically, unstrapping herself.

The admiral stared at her, then offered a sheet of paper. "Where milord asked for the troopers to be placed. All the technical readouts from-"

She thrust the paper back at him, snapping, "Point taken. Shall we go?"

The two of them marched to Calrissian's office. She sensed nobody but the baron in the room, so she just barged in through the doors.

The baron looked up at her, shrinking back before he composed himself. "My ... lady," he said slowly but steadily. He rose with a bow. "How can I be of service?"

"The empire is assuming control of this city," she said flatly, meeting his eyes.

"But why?" the man asked, flabbergasted and angry.

"Relax, Baron Calrissian. The city should be yours again by this time tomorrow. We're just having a momentary... fugitive ... problem. Your people should not be harmed."

Calrissian hissed through his teeth, but he acquiesced. "Very well, milady."

"Excellent. Admiral Piett has the fine print details. Admiral, would you-." She broke off, gesturing towards the baron. Piett leapt forward, placing the papers in the man's hand. She waited impatiently for them to finish their business.

The minute it was done, she turned around. She called as she left, "Piett, my master wants you back on the _Executor_. There is another shuttle somewhere. Take it."

She maintained a dignified pace through the stark halls. What would her master do to Luke? she wondered. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even realise that a man was addressing her. Startled, she looked around, noting the unfamiliar surroundings.

She looked at the man. "What?" she snapped.

Trembling, the man repeated, "D-do you want to see the prisoner?"

About to say no, she heard a familiar yell from the inside. She looked at the man quickly, nodding.

She braced herself and went into the cell.

The movements ceased from all the inhabitants. Then Chewbacca let out a fearsome roar and lunged.

Frustrated, Leia held up a hand and twitched a finger, sending the crazed wookie into the wall. While he got up, Leia focused in on the pressure points in his body. She force-tapped the two that would make him drop unconscious. A moment later, he did just that. She sighed. Could there be any interesting fights anymore?

Han Solo lurched to his feet, falling at Chewie's side. After a moment of confirming that the wookie was alive, he looked at her, clothed in all black, dark eyes flashing dangerously. "Leia?" he said uncertainly.

"Han. Luke is coming for you."

The ex-smuggler blinked. "Right."

"My master has something against Luke's master, so we're going to use you to get to Luke to get to Kenobi. Under no circumstances are you to be idiotic and mess this up. You will be traveling with my master and me. Escape will result in the killing of your friend." She nodded at the limp form of Chewbacca.

"So I'm the pawn for getting the pawn?" Han asked slowly, anger dripping through his words.

"Bluntly put, yes." She wondered why he had not yet addressed her threat to Chewbacca.

"So, this is the real you, then, Princess?" He waved a hand at her.

She nodded.

He rose, calmly walking toward her. She froze like a shaak in the headlights of a speeder.

"You look really good in black, Princess."

Surely he wasn't _flirting_ with her still! She blinked. A second later she jumped as his hand grazed her cheek, cupping it gently. Her heart thudded... he leaned closer... The Dark throbbed. Cursing, she pushed him back. She turned quickly to face-

"Luke," she said coolly. "How nice of you to drop by."

She lunged, knocking Han out and drawing her lightsaber at the same time. A cerulean blade clashed against her own. She smiled cruelly at the Jedi before her.

"Leia," her brother gasped out. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged — and force-threw him out of the cell.

For the first time since she'd come down here, she caught sight of where she was. She wasn't in a hallway, as she expected. She was on a giant balcony, a massive drop below her. The only thing that stood between the gap was a thick metal barrier.

She spun eagerly, blocking Luke's attack. And the fight was on.

She swung at his head; he ducked. The blade headed for his feet and he jumped.

He wasn't very good, she had to say, as she swung the lightsaber at his waist. But he was good enough to entertain her for a while. He would tire soon with this style of fighting.

Luke countered with a sidestep, twisting the blade in his hand. It grated against her own lightsaber, forcing her to sidestep as well. She discarded her robe, and tightened her grip on the lightsaber, aiming for his neck. He awkwardly batted it aside, the movement forcing him forward. She flipped the blade over the outside of her hand and roughly rammed against him with a shoulder.

He rolled elegantly, keeping his blade ignited to meet her thrust. He leapt up, swinging.

She parried, throwing in a punch. He jerked aside, catching her hand. He twisted her arm, unsuccessfully trying to throw her away. She brought her lightsaber about over her back. She was shoved away from him; he managed to bring his blade back to counter hers.

And the pattern grew: step forward, swing, push when the block came, re-center.

She felt herself grow deeper into the Force. She leapt forward, slamming her lightsaber onto his. He remained steady, calmly looking into her eyes. She glared, the hiss of the blades barely audible through her hatred.

Leia let go completely, and the Dark side took over. She kicked out at Luke, hitting him in the chest hard enough to knock the breath out of him. She aimed her lightsaber at his feet, planning on an upward slice. When Luke countered, she flipped her blade to the other side of her body, repeating the action.

Before he blocked, she pulled the tip of the blade away, swinging upwards. He somehow countered, but lost his balance in the process. Before he could regain control, she force-kicked him in the knees. He buckled, lightsaber flying.

He fell into a hole in the ground. Steam instantly rushed into the air from the hole.

Silence. She lowered her lightsaber, then switched it off, prodding into the dark within the hole with the Force. Her brother's force-sense was still strong and steady, but somehow muted. She looked around, taking in the sights of the Carbon Freezing Chamber.

Stunned, she thought, _But I had to press the activation button..._

She turned, looking at a silvery lightsaber that rested next to the blinking on/off switch.

It must have been the will of the Force.

She summoned a stormtrooper to take both Luke and Han, who still lay unconscious in the cell, to the _Executor. _

As the orders were carried out, she found her robe and quickly put it on.

Her master was summoning her. The older Jedi had attacked.

It was time to make herself known as an enemy to the Jedi.


	22. Death of a Jedi

**AN: **I know, I _know_. I'm a horrible person and I never update. But this chapter is good, or so I think. It's from Han's point of view...

I should be able to update more often—at least once a week, as promised ages ago—, as the fifth week of my class is getting out... Enjoy!

* * *

Han Solo woke with a start, his head throbbing. Groggily, he rolled onto his back, finding himself next to a now conscious wookie. He slurred, "Had too much to drink again, eh, Chewie? Musta fallen hard to have my head hurt like—"

He stopped himself. He was completely sober. This was not a hangover headache. He took in his surroundings numbly, memories rushing back to him. Memories and shame and despair.

Somehow, as he tried to woo the princess, he had fallen into a nasty little pit called love. He was clawing at the edges of the pit, but it seemed with each movement he simply fell back in, deeper than before. A feeling of … hopelessness… filled him as he realised he'd never be able to get out of the pit of love. That was what the nagging sensation in his heart was, a feeling of hopeless effort. He needed his princess's help to climb out, to climb away. But she wasn't there… at least not all the way. She'd use the little pit of love to her satisfaction, helping him out of it for a kiss and an intimate ten or so seconds. But then he would be thrown back in, his hopes of escape raised with her attention. And the cycle started anew, but the nagging grew to a burn, which soon scarred him for eternity.

It wasn't that he'd failed in his goals, or so he tried to tell himself. The former princess of Alderaan felt something towards him. It was the way she seemed to melt under his touch, if only for a moment. She was just scared, he knew, of her master, her father. Of what people say. The heir to a new empire and a smuggler? He couldn't believe it himself.

But she seemed too graceful, so elegant, too _lovely_ to resist. The set of her clenched jaw, her soft lips, her brain-damaging hairstyles. Her pale skin. The way she flushed red when angered. Her soft doe eyes…

Captain Solo jerked himself to the present, or at least the semi-present. Her doe eyes had turned a sickening sulfuric yellow before she turned to look at Luke. But otherwise, before that, she had appeared with brown eyes. She'd been robed in all black, the slimming color doing her more justice than should be allowed. And she'd responded to his touch…

It was Luke's fault, he realised. Then he shook his head, astonished that he could think such a thing. The young Jedi had saved his life more than once, and he was a good boy. Man. Whatever. But he couldn't prevent angry thoughts from leeching in: Luke had previously stolen _his_ princess's affection from him. Yes, it had all been an act on her part, but it prevented him from making a move. And again, if Luke hadn't charged into the room/cell, he could have gotten her to listen to him. He would have continued kissing her, loving her… But it seemed that the Jedi, all Jedi, but Luke in particular, set her anger off. She had been livid when he interrupted them. That was what made her knock him out.

Horror swept through him once more. It was one of his closest friends he was speaking of. He reassured himself: he was only frustrated with women and life in general, and Luke was always easier to blame than Leia.

But a nagging part of his mind said otherwise—

Chewbacca groaned and nudged Han in the shoulder. Jarred from the uncomfortable train of thought, Han quickly asked, "Are you okay, Chewie? She hit you pretty good."

There was a grumble of irritation, but the wookie then muttered, "I'm fine, Cub. But of you? She threw you against the wall."

Han touched the back of his head, feeling the ridiculously large bump there. "I'm fine," he said airily. "Just a little sore." _It mean_s _she wants me alive..._

"Then let us go. The princess hit the door with her lightsaber. We can go," urged Chewbacca. Unsteadily Han rose, nodding. The world before him fluttered, but he managed to right himself in time to see Chewie beat down the door with a hairy fist.

"I wanna find out where the princess took Luke, a'right?" he told his co-pilot. Though he disagreed, Chewie followed Han.

Shock was the only explainable emotion in the air when Han exited the cell. Angry black lines gouged out the hall, scarring it for life. It would have to be replaced. The lines came primarily from one side—the weaker opponent's attempts to bat away the stronger one. The question remained: who was stronger?

He quickly followed the scorch marks. The room he was in next was darkly lit, with black steps and flooring that rattled when pressure was applied. Tubes stretched from the ceiling to a hole in the floor. Carbon freezing chamber, he realised numbly. And the fighting signs end here. She must have pushed him in.

He rocked on his heels. Would a human survive the exposure? Try as he might, he still felt no grief or pain. Just numbing shock. Chewbacca moaned in despair, the sound echoing through the chamber.

And then there was a great shout. Han staggered out another door to see, on the below floor…

Vader, the princess, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They stood, alone, in a hallway, a disfigured triangle.

The older Jedi looked at the two black-clad figures, a look of utter horror on his face. "Your Highness?" he said weakly. He understood, but the thought of betrayal was too astonishing. "You know who this is, correct? Anakin, how did you-"

"Do not call me that, _Master_," sneered Vader. "It has no meaning for me anymore."

"Master Jedi?" Leia almost literally purred, tapping a few fingers on the gleaming lightsaber in her hand. She was far too amused, too confident. Her prey was cornered. She could take her sweet time. So she assisted her master in verbal mockery. "You Jedi think far too highly of yourselves don't you?" She laughed, a light, triumphant laugh that sent the hair on the back of Han's neck into high alert. "You assumed that you had ratted out all of the double agents, didn't you? And yet, I've been serving my _father_ for over three years now, and you had sensed nothing. Nobody did, and nobody will!"

"Where is my padawan?" Obi-Wan demanded, drawing his lightsaber. He ignored the princess completely, causing her to give a lovely sounding primal hiss. (Han shuddered at his unconscious thought.) The Jedi was trying to preserve his dignity, the dignity of his people.

A triumphant Vader called the lightsaber from his belt to his hand, ignited the red weapon, and flipped it in his hand. "Why don't you," he snarled, "sense him through the Force, Obi-Wan?"

The two servants of the Dark Side flew at the servant of the Light. Blades clashed as Kenobi spun in repeated half-circles, trying to fend off the heavy blows that were being rained upon him.

Leia threw in a few punches, clipping him momentarily on the head. He responded by whacking her cheek, sending her sprawling. But her lightsaber managed to force his arm to fall out. Obi-Wan stepped back to regain his shaky composure.

It wouldn't be a long fight, Han realised. But it would turn the tidings of the war. If two of the Alliance's Jedi were killed, then what would happen to the rebelling people? Confidence levels would plummet. Recruits would stop pouring in, becoming a trickle.

Numbly, he watched as Leia cut at the Jedi's feet while her father slashed at his waist. Kenobi quickly backflipped, bringing his blade up quickly enough to stop the two that were trying to decapitate him. Sparks flew, and the Jedi shoved back.

Both Sith allowed the movement, then went for opposite sides. Somehow, he managed to elongate the blade and swing it around to block Leia's, then over his back to block Vader. He lashed out with a foot, catching Leia in the stomach. She rolled backward, switching off the lightsaber until she leapt back up.

Vader was clearly taunting his old master. He refused to look him in the face—or anywhere, for that matter. He faced the opposite direction, eyes closed, as he swung and deflected behind his back.

Clearly frustrated, Obi-Wan raised his blade and spun to the side, blade going one way, his body the other. Surprised, Vader turned. A second later he threw himself to the ground as Kenobi righted himself and swung _low_.

Vader kicked at his legs, sending him to his stomach, lightsaber flying. Yet somehow, miraculously, he called it back in time to block both of their blows. His own saber, however, was pushed dangerously close to his throat with the Siths' combined pressure.

He closed his eyes and the two of the went flying into a wall. He leapt up and stood at the ready.

Neither Sith attacked. Han could see from where he was that Leia's now sulfuric eyes glinted with more malice than before, her delicate ego bruised. Vader snarled in his throat, and both began to stalk lithely to the Jedi.

And then the Jedi switched off his blade, holding it at the ready position.

They lunged.

So did Chewbacca, down off the top floor. With a furious roar, the wookie slammed into Leia, knocking her to the side, where she fell limply. She didn't budge. Vader was clipped by a furry, clawed paw. But he still managed to slice the Jedi in half. The man disappeared, robe and all. His lightsaber was the only think to remain.

Chewie howled in agony and hatred. He lunged, but was thrown back into a metal wall. He fell limply as well.

Stunned, confused, and terrified, Han tried to remember to breathe.

"Solo, are you going to tend to her?"

Vader asked the question, his voice gleeful. Terrified, Han rose. He felt himself thrown to the ground floor, on his knees before the lord.

"Chewie," he said dully, remembering his faithful co-pilot. Why couldn't he think straight? Why was the fact that his faithful friend almost dead not alarming to him.

"Chewbacca will go free on the _Falcon_. You will come with us onto the _Executor_," Vader answered. His dangerous smile was turning into a deadly frown.

So, numbly, trying not to think of it, Han rose unsteadily and crossed to his lady sith. He knelt, expertly feeling her pulse. It was fine. Without thinking, he drew her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I'm here, sweetheart," he mumbled.

Her eyes fluttered open, and their lovely doe brown colour stared back. "Han? What of the Jedi?" she whispered. She didn't resist his gentle touch.

He looked at her steadily. "Hacked in half," he informed her emotionlessly.

She smiled into his chest, weakly. She was tired. "You never liked him anyhow."

"Hmm," Han whispered. Vader came and scooped his daughter into his arms. He ordered Han to follow.

Han turned to look at the brave wookie, now finally feeling his emotions lurch. An invisible hand grasped his neck. He was dragged away before the Imperials came for Chewie.

At least the wookie would be free, as he wanted.

If only he knew what _he_ wanted.


	23. Plans Loosely Formed

**AN: **I'm putting this story through massive reconstruction... enjoy this little tidbit.

* * *

Lord Vader had been surprised, to say the least, by the interference of the wookie. Things had been going fine. Then the hairy beast was throwing himself through the air, trying to kill _his _daughter, _his_ princess. He felt the impact, heard her shocked gasp, and felt her force-sense decline rapidly to where she blacked out.

Then he recognised the wookie as Chewbacca, and he realised the wookie was trying to save his old master. Vader felt a paw clip his shoulder, but he managed to kill Obi-Wan. Sp he spun and attacked the alien, throwing it into a wall where it fell into a deep unconsciousness. He prepared to kill it for its crimes.

And then he noticed the captain of the _Falcon_. The dark haired man's eyes were wide, glancing between the princess and the wookie. Vader instantly remembered that his daughter had, for some absurd reason, been attracted to this man. She had also made it clear that the captain knew of her identity, so either the man was simply asking for death, or he truly felt something for Lord Vader's daughter.

His daughter had made no movements to show that she planned on staying with the man for an extended period of time. And, though the thought of his daughter having a toy to soothe her lust and/or her urge to destroy things was mildly disturbing to him, he remembered that Sith often did have playthings. He should be lucky that hers was human.

He'd studied the captain. It didn't look like he was a toy. He wasn't bruised. He wasn't scared of her. Interesting. Perhaps she returned the affection that Vader had considered earlier?

That thought caused a ray of sunlight to break through his black, comforting chains. His mood momentarily plummeted, before he remembered that loving while embracing the marvellous darkness was possible. He blinked his very blue eyes and looked quietly at Solo. It was possible as long as the loved one understood that the Dark held higher importance, and that the Dark master was much more important.

And so he'd watched Solo struggle as he sat on the ground. Tend to the princess, or tend to the wookie? Vader made the decision for him. He asked gleefully, "Solo, are you going to tend to her?"

Terror and horror came across through the Force anew. He blinked again. Solo staggered to his feet. Vader promptly shoved him down with the Force, forcing him to kneel. They had one more thing to cover first...

"Chewie?" asked Captain Solo dully. His mind, his voice was completely devoid of any emotion. Vader concluded that he was in a state of shock.

"Chewbacca will go free on the _Falcon. _You will come with us onto the _Executor_."

Solo struggled to stand again. He crossed the floor, then knelt when he came across Leia. With practised hands and fingers, he reached for her pulse. After a moment, Solo concluded that she would be fine. Then he, almost unconsciously, cradled the injured princess.

Vader didn't catch all his words when he spoke next, but he easily caught the endearment used at the end of the sentence. Sweetheart. Vader vaguely reflected that those words weren't the ones he would use to describe the princess, but all the same, it was nauseatingly sweet. He wanted to gag.

But Leia didn't, he noted. Instead, there was a surge of happiness. Then she remembered. "Han? What of the Jedi?"

Solo looked sickened, but he stroked her gently. "Hacked in half," he said quietly.

Sighing delightedly, she snuggled closer. "You never like him anyhow, Han."

Enough of this! Vader had grumbled angrily to himself. He'd walked over and had scooped his daughter up. He'd ordered Han Solo to follow, yanking him by the neck when he hesitated.

He'd put Leia in her room, sending the medics in to tend to her. Solo was given an adjoining room. And then he walked to see the Skywalker boy.

That was where he was now. An old, unused room in his private quarters. The boy's slab of carbonite lay on the floor. The young Jedi's face was curled in defiance and shock. An amusing, almost hilarious expression to see.

His apprentice had done an excellent job. She had foreseen the battle and had delivered him a powerful young jedi.

Like a cat, Vader prowled around him. Luke Skywalker seemed to be a good son. A good flier. A good boy in general.

And he was a Jedi.

Vader prodded the boy through the Force. He was corrupted by heart. The Jedi had brainwashed him well. There was no turning him to power now. There was no point. Leia would kill the boy, her brother, before he even got a chance to bat an eyelid.

Leia was more powerful.

She reminded him of what Padmé could have been. Soon she should be an empress.

Luke reminded him of _Anakin Skywalker_, of a disgusting past. He was best forgotten.

That is, unless...

Vader reached out with the Force. The boy's mental shields were down completely. With a triumphant snarl, Vader probed his mind. Within seconds, Alliance access codes and base locations and beautiful memories littered with Alliance Secrets poured through his head.

The question now, he realised, was how and when he should attack.

He would wait for his apprentice, his daughter to stir.

* * *

Two hours later, Lord Vader froze mid-stride. His daughter had decided to rejoin the world of the living. He spun in the opposite direction, walking briskly towards her quarters.

The door slid open, and he stepped inside...

... to see the captain of the _Falcon_ already there. He stopped, glaring at him. She was stretched out on the bed; he sat by her feet. Their conversation stopped the second he strolled in.

Vader stepped forward again, placing his hand on her forehead. "The doctors said that you have a severe concussion, my daughter."

"I know,"she murmured softly, gingerly touching a bruise on her forehead. It looked like some idiot had given a four year old a set of dark colouring implements and a face to draw on.

"So, onward. Using the young Jedi's mind I have successfully discovered the location of the bases and all of the background information that even you did not have access to. Jedi temples and such. We have enough information to successfully eradicate the Jedi once and for all."

Leia exhaled sharply in delight. "Master," she said softly. "When do we strike?" Vader sensed her ecstasy, and he stopped himself from smiling.

He responded, "We will lead the attack together, when you are better." He cast a look at Solo. "But first, I need a word with your ... friend."

Solo launched himself to his feet as she prodded him in the back. Vader gestured to the door. "This is better outside."

Swallowing, the shaking man followed him outside.

He extended the Force. It was his daughter's boy toy, alright. Man toy. Whatever. He sensed simple, quiet shock, but a desire to stay with Leia.

Solo approached nervously, though he remained outwardly stoic. "Sir," he said quietly.

The respirator hissed out an extended breath. A sigh. Vader was irritated that Solo hadn't addressed him properly, but the fact that he had been addressed with a semblance of a title was most impressive. Perhaps his daughter had been grinding manners into his apparently thick skull. He responded icily, "Solo."

Solo fell into step with the Dark Lord; they stalked down the hallway together. Vader looked down at him. "Why were you with the princess when she was still unconscious?"

Solo tilted his head back to look at him. "I like watching her sleep."

"Watch her?"

Solo squirmed. "I-"

"Are you attempting to inform me that you enjoy watching an unconscious person be unconscious? Or are you attempting to stalk her every movement? Or lack thereof?"

"I like watching her sleep. It's the only time she truly looks at rest."

Vader could hear the self beating in Solo's head. It wasn't manly to say, let alone think those thoughts. Saying such was weakness.

But, Vader found, the thought made him smile painfully under the mask. He had enjoyed watching his beloved wife sleep. He'd liked stroking her arm, murmuring words of love—

Horrified, he shook himself to the present. His wife was dead. Remembering her was pointless and it would do nothing except fuel his rage for Palpatine. He quickly reached for the Force, wallowing in the Dark emotions and sensations.

He noted Solo was waiting for a response. He bit out, "Most men enjoy working on machines. Or designing a piece of technology."

"I'm not most guys. "

"I noticed. When the princess told me there was someone attempting to court her despite her heritage, I was...amused. And, Solo, I would not advise lying to me. You enjoy working on ships. Especially your own. Is the _Falcon _always a bucket of loose bolts? It could have fallen apart within seconds!"

Solo looked scared, to say the least. His sudden mood swing had caught him off guard. Vader considered himself justified. He barked, "You could have killed the woman that is third in line to the Imperial Throne!"

"I wouldn't have taken her if I thought it wasn't safe! I was trying to protect her from what I thought meant torture!"

Vader spun, throwing him against a wall with a wave of his finger. Such confessions from a no good smuggler were astonishing. This man truly did care for his daughter. And he was intelligent. He would make a good imperial.

And he had heard too much if he was still a rebel.

He squeezed his hand. Han grabbed for his throat, gasping. His eyes were massive.

"I will offer you one option: stay here and serve under me. Palpatine's time is running short. We must have people we trust."

Han glared, turning purple.

"It would mean a lot to my daughter, to Leia."

She was the selling factor, Vader was sure of it.

Han Solo croaked out, "Deal!"

Vader released him, setting him down on the ground with surprising gentility.

"Excellent," he murmured, and spun on his heel to walk back into Leia's quarters.


	24. Pooja

"Excellent," he murmured, and spun on his heel to walk back into Leia's quarters.

His daughter was sitting on the bed, nodding off. Every few moments her head would slip to the side, where she promptly jerked herself back to the conscious world. Waiting for the results of the conversation, he supposed.

"Daughter," he said quietly. "It is time to plan."

Her eyes darkened with satisfaction, but he still sensed a feeling of dread.

But she wouldn't ask about her boy toy. It was weakness. Both of them knew it. So he decided to call her on it. "You care for that filth?"

She winced, flashing a nervous look outside the door. Undoubtedly she had sensed her friend's spot in the Force begin to shrink. Undoubtedly she knew that Han had managed to say something that pleased Vader.

She also knew that her master placed smugglers, beggars, and bounty hunters in the same category. She had to choose her words carefully or a weakness would show. As a master, Vader knew most of her weaknesses. That, however, did not mean that she had to lay them at his feet.

So she lifted her chin and answered, "He was a vent for my frustration as I was positioned under the rebels. Since you do not wish for me to bother your captains, he is the ideal outlet."

Vader blinked, impressed by her coverup despite himself. She had been a senator, like her mother, he supposed. The thought of his long dead wife sent a pang of loss through him.

Silently conveying that he saw right through her tale, he sat at the foot of her bed. "Which move should we make first, apprentice? Kill my master or destroy the Alliance."

She yawned. "The Alliance is at its most vulnerable now. Because the Jedi"-her lips curled in distaste-"has provided us with information, we should be able to perform a simple hit and run destruction."

But then her lips pursed. "Father, I have a question."

"Do you?" Vader responded, unintentionally icy.

"Are we targeting the Jedi first? Once they are killed, the Alliance may loose its support."

"Once Palpatine is killed and we take over, the Alliance may cease to exist in the first place," Vader countered calmly.

"What is our goal? Destroying the Alliance? Eradicating the Jedi? Or securing the throne?" Leia asked briskly, a dark frown marring her features. "You have your priorities mixed up, Master. You're completely forgetting about the Jedi. I say we attack them first."

He glared at the overstep, but he was honestly too bewildered to come up with a come back. He thought what he'd been saying made perfect sense. He struggled to compose himself. "We must destroy my master first, daughter. The Jedi will come to fight us in the middle of the transition of rule, assuming that we do not know who is to be trusted. They assume they will catch us off guard. They will not. My master's palace has hundreds of traps in it; the Jedi will either fall into one of them or become prey to a lightsaber."

Leia stared, narrowing her eyes. "I concur."

Silence for a moment. Then she asked, "Who are we to trust, Master? I am currently unaware of the political state of the galaxy. I cannot return to Coruscant at this time—they consider me a dangerous criminal."

She was right, of course. Angry for not seeing this earlier, Vader drummed his fingers against the wall.

But then he had an idea. He rose to his feet. "You are aware of all of the members of the Alliance, correct? Planets, leaders-?"

She nodded slowly.

"Excellent. You must visit them again and find where their loyalties lie—maybe why they side with the Alliance. Do this with all politicians."

Busy work! Leia thought in disgust. But the Force coiled around her, Dark and menacing, and she nodded, gritting her teeth.

She countered, "But Master, word will get out if I am there. Some politicians will attempt to arrest me."

"And that," Vader said smugly, "is why you are not going as a princess or a senator or a Sith."

She blinked, her throbbing head beginning to pound even more. "I do not understand."

"I am aware of that. Be silent and allow me to explain. A few days earlier, _The Turbine_ intercepted a transmission from a diplomatic ship from Naboo. On board the ship was Naboo's senator, Pooja Naberrie." He paused as the last name sent a jolt through him, then continued. "The admiral hailed the ship and sent Senator Naberrie to the detention level. At that point he contacted me. I ordered him to send her here. She is now currently in this ship's detention level. You will gain her trust and go with her to Coruscant as her handmaiden."

He finished, clearly proud of planning ahead. His style was more abrupt and careless.

"Did the admiral tell anyone else of the senator's arrival? If he informed—"

"He told nobody. I made sure of that, apprentice."

She nodded slowly. "Why this senator?"

Vader gripped her arm and sent a full jolt of healing energy through her. He was too impatient to take this the correct way. "You bear a striking resemblance to her. A little makeup and you could easily pass as a handmaiden."

She blinked, remembering thinking that when meeting the young woman for the first time. "Yes... I remember feeling connected to her, though, Master. Like the connection I used to sense between myself and that Jedi, but not nearly as strong."

He paused. "That makes sense. You are cousins."

He restrained a smirk at her flabbergasted expression before she schooled it. "Yes," he said loftily, "she is your mother's sister's daughter."

It clicked. "So you want a semi royal family," Leia guessed.

He nodded, pulling her into a standing position, then pushing her out of the room.

He blinked, seeing Solo hovering awkwardly by the door. He'd somehow forgotten that the man had not the faintest idea where to go in the massive ship. "Solo, wait inside this room. It will be about ten minutes until someone arrives to take you to your new quarters. Understand?"

Han's mouth twisted in anger at the curt address, but he remained silent and nodded.

"Excellent. Do not touch anything if you wish for your brain to keep receiving oxygen." He pushed _him_ inside, and the door slid shut, silencing his retort.

Leia bristled at the awkward handling, but she said nothing, just followed her master down to the detention block.

They spoke little, allowing her to adjust to her newfound relative. The crew members scattered pathetically at the sight of them, finding something to do at a convenient time.

They reached the block, and Vader pressed the button that opened the doors. They slid open with a hiss, and they both stepped inside.

Leia was shocked. Pooja Naberrie was bloody and beaten. Her master had hinted that she was to join part of their ranks.

"Father?"

"This is from the sister ship. She arrived just this morning, as you were recovering. I think it appropriate for her to find you tending to her. You might as well get used to it, as it will happen while you are on Coruscant. We leave in two days' time."

She blinked, not liking the sudden lack of position. But, she reasoned, she was family, and she was untouched by the Jedi.

"I will take my leave," Vader said humourlessly. "She has quarters that adjoin with yours. The medical material should be there." He swept from the cell.

Biting back a sharp retort, she reached over to rouse her cousin. Her hand paused several inches from her friend.

She should take her to her room first, should prepare all of the materials. Water especially. She remembered a strong need for water after any injury she had suffered from.

She hauled the limp woman into her arms, tapping into the Force to keep herself from wavering from exhaustion. It was not that the young senator was heavy—neither of them were—but she was just recovered from a hard lightsaber duel, one that had strained her emotionally and physically. Her muscles groaned as she started to move.

***

Once in Pooja's room, Leia touched Pooja's forehead gently, calling her name several times to attempt to rouse her. Eventually, the young senator blinked warily.

She instantly shied away from Leia's fingers. Annoyed, Leia called out, "Pooja, it's me, Leia of Alderaan." Her voice twisted when she spoke of the planet.

Pooja slowly opened her eyes, taking in the Darkly clad form of her cousin.

"Leia?" she whispered. Her throat was dry, and her voice crackled.

Leia reached for the waiting glass of water and pressed it to the girl's lips. "It's okay. Here's some water."

Thirstily, Pooja drank.

The effect was almost immediate. Her eyes began to droop, and she was sleeping before her head returned to the pillow.

Leia began to wrap the gashes.


	25. The Past

Leia detested the thought of serving under anybody. Or at least anybody that she hadn't wanted to serve. Pooja Naberrie was a source of constant debate in her mind.

The young woman was roughly seven years older than her, so she was around 31. She was her cousin from her mother's side. And that was where the debate started.

Serving under her would be how the Empire came into Vader's—and her—hands. Once she discovered who the people that would willingly serve under her father, it was a matter of planning. But that was assuming that the young woman didn't tell anybody. Her trust had to be built and kept. Then, she had to see that, while the concept of the Alliance was novel, they were simply hurting the galaxy more than ever.

But how to make her see such things? Talking was option one, but that wouldn't work. It would make her begin to doubt, but she would need proof. Option two was showing her the plans, introducing to the guards, informing her—simply explain everything, the whos, the whats, the wheres, and the whys.

And most importantly, the whens.

So she would know everything. And, because they were related, Vader would want her to be gentle. That meant no violence or shoving. But what if Pooja decided that she didn't want to even have anything to do with the Royal Family? She would run to the Alliance, and Leia's preferred method of punishment—slicing and dicing limbs with her lightsaber—would not be allowed.

Leia shivered. Pooja needed to have enough trust in her to believe all of this. But how to gain her trust? And what was she allowed to know?

She decided that she would inform her that they were cousins, and that Vader was her father. That would give her an explanation to why she was even alive in the first place.

But how to break the news? Popping up and saying "Darth Vader's your uncle" wasn't exactly a common method. Especially to someone who'd just been through severe suffering and trauma at the hands of the empire. So how—?

"Aunt Padmé?" Pooja whispered.

Leia's head snapped up. She was sitting by the older senator's bed. She'd stopped dressing her wounds, but she still sat deep in thought. At the sound of her mother's name, her icy heart began to melt. Just a bit.

But enough.

And, besides, this gave her the excuse to break the news. Ironic.

"No," she said, a forced gentility in her voice. Pooja didn't notice. "But her daughter."

Pooja blinked franticly. Her eyes focused on the princess. "Leia?" she whispered.

Leia nodded.

"But you're—I-I..."

"Relax," Leia choked out smoothly, pressing her hand against the senator's forehead. "Please. You've been badly hurt. "

To her astonishment, her cousin shook her head vehemently, completely ignoring her. "No! I need to talk to your father. Something's come up, something that he has to know before it's too late." She made to get out of the bed.

Her father? Uh oh. She pushed her back, a grudging respect growing as she struggle, albeit weakly. "Look, Pooja, we aren't in Alliance headquarters."

Pooja stopped, lifting her head to look at her. She looked around, then looked back at her. "Then where are we?" It was barely a whisper.

"The Empire. Vader's flagship."

Her relative's eyes almost exploded. "What?"

"He saved you, Pooja," Leia said, quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"But, but _why_?" she whimpered, sagging back against the pillows.

"I suppose he doesn't want his niece to get hurt." She waited for the screaming and denials, her hands fisted in anticipation. Watching people squirm was unusually cathartic.

Pooja just stared. She repeated the words, mouthed the word that explained everything, and simply closed her eyes. She said nothing for several moments.

Leia's shoulders sagged in semi-disappointment. What was the fun in telling someone that their worst enemy was their uncle if they weren't going to react violently about it? But again, her other self, her politician self, couldn't help but admire her cool head.

She was even more impressed when Pooja just said simply, "Then you're his daughter. That's why you're here. Force help us."

It already was, Leia thought smugly.

She almost fell off her stool when Pooja asked softly, "Do you ever talk to him?"

Frowning, she nodded. "Yes, sometimes. Why do you ask?"

"Do you know if he was a Jedi before the Empire?"

Leia, stiffened, but she remembered she needed to gain trust. She said, brusquely, "Yes. By the name of Skywalker." She hoped, hoped_, hoped_ that Vader wouldn't punish her over such a significant detail.

Pooja whispered, "I'm glad my aunt died happily then."

Leia blinked. From her father's tale, her mother died in anguish and agony. She asked for clarification.

"I met him when I was really little. She loved him then. At least she got the guy."

Leia didn't tell her the truth. As an unwritten rule, she didn't speak about her mother much, around or away from Vader. She sighed softly. "Is there anything I can get you, Pooja?"

The woman shook her head. "Can you just give me some time?"

"Yes. Just buzz if you need anything." She gestured to a button on the wall. "It'll tell someone, who'll tell me."

She turned to leave, then stopped. "How are you feeling? I should have asked that years ago! You just got beaten, and I'm telling you that Vader—"

"I feel fine, Princess, thank you." She laughed softly. "I suppose that term holds much more meaning now, doesn't it, Leia." Her eyes met Leia's. "I'm so sorry."

Leia, hesitantly, gripped her hand. "You'll be fine, Pooja. Just rest." She put a Force command on the last word. A weakened Pooja sighed and obeyed.

Leia released her hand, padding into her quarters. She shut the door, then leaned against it. "Ugh," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Well, it could have been worse."

"Are you sure?"

She snapped her eyes open, gripping both the Force and her Lightsaber. "Han!"

The rogue sat on her bed, a crooked smile on his face. "Leia!" he mock cried. He lifted an eyebrow.

"How did you get in here?" she demanded.

He shrugged, eyes falling to the floor. "Vader let me in."

"He let you in my quarters? Without supervision?" She put her Lightsaber away.

"I'm not a child, Leia," he muttered under his breath.

Embarrassed, and even more so to even be feeling embarrassed, Leia retorted, "No, Han. I meant that he barely allows any of my servants in here without supervision, and they aren't courting the heir to his throne. And they can't get his heir pregnant."

Han ran a hand through his hair, clearly not knowing how to respond. "Well, he knows he can trust me. He has before."

"I-Wait. Before?" she echoed.

He squirmed. "I worked with him before. He hired me to bring Luke and the Jedi to the Death Star. Of course, it was all by voice scramblers, so he didn't recognise me. But he remembered when I told him."

"But... why you?" Leia asked, horribly confused.

"I was taking any cash, and I had the best flying scores of all of the men in the Imperial Academy."

Utter, childlike delight poured through her. "You went to the Academy?"

He nodded, another wry grin on his face. "You didn't think your father would let just anyone court his daughter, did you? Vader just interrogated me. He even asked me what my favorite colour is."

Her heart thudded at the word "interrogation," but she saw he meant it figuratively. She relaxed, a muted sense of joy rippling through the Dark side to get to her. So he was a proper man _and_ a bad man.

She shivered. Slowly, she padded over to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. He responded.

* * *

The Jedi master froze, trying to stop the onslaught of the emotion that came with the sensing of Obi-Wan Kenobi's death. The noble eyes closed. The next war, the war for the throne, was beginning.


	26. Pooja Waking Up

**POOJA NABERRIE **

**P**ooja woke. She was tired, sore, beaten. But she was not broken.

Shocked was a better adjective. Darth Vader, the second in command of the empire, was her _uncle_. And Leia, her cousin.

And Leia, _his_ daughter.

How was it possible? she wondered. She had known that Leia had been adopted at a young age—she'd heard from infancy. How had Vader sunk his claws into her? When did she turn to the Dark side?

And when did Aunt Padmé get married? She knew that question shouldn't be the most pressing in her mind, but she could not help her curiosity. Closing her eyes, she tried to think back through hazy memories to picture her beloved aunt. The senator had always been so proud, so strong, so independent. When the Jedi Council ordered her into hiding, she had been livid on the comlink. But by the time she had gotten to Naboo, her temper had cooled. At age seven, Pooja had thought nothing of it; now she realized that Anakin was most likely the source of her sudden calm. She hadn't seen him in person again, just onscreen in the news and whatnot. He was always away at war. When did Padmé and Anakin have time to get together?

And when did she have a kid? Nobody, not even Padmé's mother, had known she was pregnant until she died.

Pooja briefly considered the probability of Leia lying. Honor was not a Sith's strong suit. But she suspected that Leia wanted something—so much so that Leia _had_ to be honest. And besides, the resemblance between Padmé and Leia was too large to be ignored.

And that was probably why Vader found her, she realised. She shifted, wincing as her limbs and muscles violently protested. Now that she'd though about her aunt's marriage, she could get back to the present. —Vader had found Leia because of her resemblance to her mother.

But then that still begged the question of how the Sith Lord had managed to convince her to side with him. Enough so to hurt Luke, her supposed best friend. And Han. What had happened to him? She'd heard rumors from Bespin, but nobody knew anything for certain.

The door slid open, and light shot into the room from the hallways. Pooja moaned, lifting a hand to cover her sensitive eyes.

The light vanished as the door slid shut with a quiet hiss. Pooja didn't know anybody was there until Leia murmured, "Are you awake?"

She jumped, and she bit back a cry of pain.

"I'll take that as a yes," the princess said wryly. She sat at the foot of the bed; the older senator could feel the pressure of her weight on the blanket. "What hurts?"

"Everything," she answered, and her anger suddenly hit her full throttle. Vader had gotten her to switch sides! She'd _betrayed_ them. Though Pooja was not directly involved in the Alliance, she had lent more than enough aide to be infuriated by Leia's actions.

She didn't know what startled her more, the intensity of her anger or Leia's soft, dark chuckle. _Damn emotion-sensors, _she thought, a hand grasping at a blanket tightly.

"You're angry," Leia said, and she spoke in the same tone that she was used to hearing: deep and soft, matter-of-fact.

"You dare act surprised at such a fact?"

"No, not particularly. I am amused at such a fact. You've only become angry now, and you've been here for three days."

Pooja shivered. Underneath that tone, another tone lay. It quivered with its intensity. But what was the emotion from which the tone stemmed? Anger? Frustration? Contained excitement?

"I've had a lot to think about. But my thoughts haven't gotten me anywhere. I need to ask questions."

Leia clicked her teeth, and Pooja heard her drum her fingers against the wall once. "Ask away."

"What makes you assume I wanted to ask you?" she snapped, annoyed.

"Pooja."

"Why?"

The laugh that came from Leia startled her more than the first one had. It was louder, less restrained. "I was so, _so_ sick of war. I wanted it to end." She shifted. "I am fighting for the same thing the rebels are fighting for. The death of Palpatine."

"And after that?" There had to be a catch.

"We aren't certain." There was an edge to her voice as she said this, and Pooja dared not test her any further. She changed her tactics and asked, "What do you want with me?"

Leia hummed for a moment before she responded. "We're taking you back to the capitol."

Of all the responses, that caught her off guard the most. Held as a captive, she'd been expecting. Tortured, she'd been dreading, now that Leia had revealed her hand to the Alliance. Killed—being killed wouldn't have surprised her.

Unless she'd misunderstood. "What will you do with me on Coruscant?"

"I need to be certain who serves who. I need to visit the leaders in person."

"That doesn't answer the question, Leia."

"We'll let you go back to whatever it is you were doing."

Instantly, she was suspicious. She tried to see her cousin in the dark, but she could not. She closed her eyes and demanded, "What's the catch?"

"I'll inform you of that sometime before we land."

The older senator sighed. "Leia—why me?" _Why did you bother saving my life? Is it because of a family thing? Do you have a royal family planned or something, and I'm about to be given full protection from the Empire? _She realized, with a jolt, how devastating that action would be on her career. Most, if not all, would assume that she had shifted loyalties, and they would refuse to speak to her. But then… didn't Leia want to see who served the Alliance?

Of course, that was assuming Leia was using her, but because she was alive, she could assume as much.

Ha! Pooja blinked with her eyes closed. Maybe Leia was using reverse reasoning. She could see which senators stopped visiting her and from that decide who was loyal to the Empire or the Alliance.

Either way, she could return to her duties, but a small move that might not even change her day would reveal everything about her and her colleagues.

She swore silently, then realised Leia was replying.

"…reminded him of my mother. He said something about her being devastated if her favorite niece was injured or killed at his or her hands." The princess scoffed, tossing her hair.

Pooja heard it rustle by her shoulders. Then she gasped. "Your hair! Did you cut it?"

Leia stood. "I did not twenty minutes ago. Is that a problem?" Her voice was poisonous.

_Dammit, it is. _An Alderaanian princess's hair was not supposed to be cut. Ever. Trimmed, kept at a certain length, perhaps, but never cut. Cutting it symbolized a lack of care for the Alderaanian traditions and the planet and peace and everything Alderaan's traditions stood for.

"No, not a problem. I'm just a little shocked. Don't know why I should be, considering everything has changed now."

"Right. Give me your hand."

That was the last thing Pooja wanted to do. She obeyed.

And then she was in Leia's arms, and then her feet were on the floor. She shivered, and she felt her legs begin to shake, felt her muscles begin to groan.

"I don't want you lying down for too long. You need to get your muscles moving, even if it's just walking around the room." The Sith Lady wrapped her arm around Pooja's waist. "I'm ready when you are."

Pooja felt like she was going to be sick. Violently sick, and she hadn't taken a step yet. Wasn't this a bit too soon to be moving? It had been seven days since she'd been beaten, three since she'd been here, but _still_.

Something icy grasped at the feeling in her stomach; she shuddered, instinctively leaning onto her cousin for support before she realized who was the source of the problem.

Blasted Dark Side, she thought, but when the icy fingers vanished, she didn't feel as sick. She sighed.

"What was she like?" asked Leia suddenly, taking a step forward and taking Pooja with her.

It took the Nubian a moment to realize who the "she" was.

"I didn't see Aunt Padmé much," she answered, and something in her chest tightened with sympathy and pain. "She was always on Coruscant, or in the capitol of Naboo, working. She never devoted much time to family. That's why everyone was so surprised…"

Leia said nothing, merely inclined her head in the darkness. By the sudden stiffening of her arm, Pooja could tell she was angry with herself for asking the question.

The door slid open a few moments later, dispelling the awkward silence that had been filling the room. A man walked in, with short blonde hair and blueish eyes. His presence was cold and powerful.

"Uncle A-" Pooja stopped herself just in time. Leia's warning squeeze had been helpful.

"Pooja," Vader said, tilting his head to look at his niece. "You're up. I'm glad. There's been someone asking for you."

She stared at him, confused.

"A woman by the name of Nasiim."

Her stomach dropped to her feet. Her handmaiden! She saw Leia's lips curl into something that resembled a smile, and her stomach fell out of the spaceship.

"Where is she? She was with me when I was taken. Where is she!" Her fear, which had been carefully controlled, was shoved away. She took a step forward, but she promptly felt sick. She repeated her question, gasping.

"She's fine," drawled Vader, giving his daughter a look. "She's drugged right now, but she's been a pain. Been a definition of a loyal handmaid. You'll see her in a quarter of an hour." He walked to her, halting less than an arm's length away.

Leia's breathing hitched, and Pooja could picture what she was thinking. For the first time in twenty-four years, almost all of the family was together.

And then she wondered why she was thinking of them of family.

They were the enemy.


End file.
